Adaptations of Coastal Plants in New Zealand

A detailed Summary of Adaptations of Coastal Plants in New Zealand

New Zealand is a very narrow country, surrounded by water. Coastal area makes up over 7,000 kilometers of our land. The plants that inhabit the coasts of New Zealand live very harsh lives. There are many extreme elements of nature coastal plants have to face in order to survive. Over millions of years these plants have developed highly successful defence systems and adaptations in order to overcome problems coastal living entitles. Some of these problems include extreme temperatures, strong winds, seawater, tides, flood, drought and many other troubles. Pohutukawa, Mangroves, Toe, Toe, Flax, Cabbage trees, Puriri and Karaka are good examples of New Zealand plants that have successfully developed adaptations to counteract these elements.

Pohutukawas are one of New Zealand's most well renowned throughout the world. This is because of their stunning red flowers that cover the tree at Christmas time, hence the fact they have been nick named New Zealand's Christmas tree. As well as looking stunning Pohutukawas are one of New Zealand's sturdiest trees. The fact that Pohutukawas can be found throughout New Zealand, in some of the callous and harshest area of the coast automatically sign posts the Po

Karaka, like the Puriri, has reddish fruits. Karaka fruits are one of the largest, by New Zealand standards. Only the berries produced by Karaka trees are highly poisonous, and deadly to humans and are considered one of the most poisonous trees in New Zealand. The Wood Pigeon is the only native New Zealand bird able to eat the Karaka berry; this means the number of berries consumed by bird is significantly low. Karaka is a fast growing plant, yet that does not mean what it gains in speed it loses in strength, it is still regarded as tough, and survives well on the coast. Karaka have a strong ability to withstand dry conditions, whilst still being able to produce large berries.

Puriri have bright red flowers that flower most of the year. Young Puriri trees have a low survival rate; this is why Puriri trees flower so long. Because of the vast amount of flowers and berries they increase the amount of successful trees. The bright berried produced by the Tree are one of the main food sources of the native wood pigeon, but many of the berries still fall beneath the tree and are all in various stages of germination.

Like the Puriri, Karaka has large leaves enabling them obtain enough sunlight for them to grow over 15 meters high, with trunks up to 60 centimeters across. The leaves are dark green, thick and waxy this stops the trees from losing too much water though the leaves.

Cabbage trees have large clusters of cream flowers that pollinate easily through the wind and bees. The berry produced has three chambers and contains black seeds that will germinate almost anywhere. Cabbage Tree are very adaptable and can be found throughout New Zealand, along the coasts, in swamps, on the edge of native forests and on the plains.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Toe Toe, Zealand Wellington's, Mangroves Zealand's, Puriri Karaka, Bay Puriri, Cabbage Trees, Introduction Zealand, Wood Pigeon, Pohutukawas Zealand's, Cabbage Tree, cabbage trees, toe toe, strong winds, dry conditions, highly successful defence, flax bushes, trees pohutukawas, found north, leaf cells, toe toe flax, successful defence, leaves toe toe, wood pigeon, found throughout zealand, dark green thick,

Approximate Word count = 1996
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Science