Azorella polaris

Azorella polaris, commonly known as the Macquarie Island cabbage, is a species of flowering plant usually placed in the family Araliaceae and only very distantly related to cabbage. It is a megaherb, growing up to about a metre in height, native to the subantarctic islands of New Zealand and to Australia’s Macquarie Island.

Azorella polaris
Azorella polaris on Campbell Island
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Apiales
Family: Apiaceae
Genus: Azorella
Species:
A. polaris
Binomial name
Azorella polaris
(Hombr. & Jacquinot) G.M.Plunkett & A.N.Nicolas (2016)[1]
Synonyms[1]
  • Aralia polaris Hombr. & Jacquinot (1843)
  • Stilbocarpa polaris (Hombr. & Jacquinot) A.Gray (1854)

Uses

A. polaris was used as a food source and a scurvy preventative by early explorers and sealers.[2]

Conservation status

It is classified as "At Risk - Naturally Uncommon" in the New Zealand threatened plants classification system.[3] On Macquarie Island, it was threatened by introduced black rats and European rabbits,[2] until their eradication in 2011.

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Azorella polaris.
  1. Azorella polaris (Hombr. & Jacquinot) G.M.Plunkett & A.N.Nicolas. Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  2. Skotnicki, M.; Selkirk, P.; Kitajima, E.; McBride, T.; Shaw, J. & Mackenzie, A. (January 2003). "The first subantarctic plant virus report: Stilbocarpa mosaic bacilliform badnavirus (SMBV) from Macquarie Island". Polar Biology. 26 (1): 1–7. doi:10.1007/s00300-002-0421-8. S2CID 22489620.
  3. de Lange, Peter; et al. (2012). Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2012 (PDF). Department of Conservation. ISBN 978-0-478-14995-1.


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