Adams’ Mistletoe (Trilepidea adamsii)
Adams’ Mistletoe was described in 1880, it is one of several mistle species that are endemic to New Zealand; it was apparently restricted to a few sites on the North Island of New Zealand. It was preferably growing on mamangi (Coprosma arborea Kirk.).
The species was last seen in 1954 on Sanitorium Hill, Maungakawa, near the Waikato town of Cambridge.
The reasons for the extinction of this species appear to be unknown, it is often thought to have disappeared due to browsing by the indroduced Brushtail Possums (Didelphis vulpecula (Kerr)), however, this seems rather to be unlikely. [1]
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References:
[1] David A. Norton: Trilepidea adamsii: An orbituary for a species. Conservation Biology 5(1): 52-57. 1991
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(public domain)
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edited: 24.10.2020