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 | |
|---|---|
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| Azorella polaris on Campbell Island | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Apiales |
| Family: | Apiaceae |
| Genus: | Azorella |
| Species: | A. polaris
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| Binomial name | |
| Azorella polaris (Hombr. & Jacquinot) G.M.Plunkett & A.N.Nicolas (2016)[1]
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| Synonyms[1] | |
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Uses edit
A. polaris was used as a food source and a scurvy preventative by early explorers and sealers.[2][3] It was eaten by the survivors of the 1907 shipwreck of the Dundonald on Disappointment Island.[4][3]
Conservation status edit
It is classified as "At Risk - Naturally Uncommon" in the New Zealand threatened plants classification system.[5] On Macquarie Island, it was threatened by introduced black rats and European rabbits,[2] until their eradication in 2011.
References edit
- ^ a b Azorella polaris (Hombr. & Jacquinot) G.M.Plunkett & A.N.Nicolas. Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ a b Hartley, Karri Horton; Guy, Paul; Lord, Janice (2024). "A tale of two species: Pringlea antiscorbutica and Azorella polaris , sub-Antarctic scurvy remedies". Polar Record. 60. doi:10.1017/S0032247424000019.
- ^ Escott-Inman, Herbert (1911). The Castaways of Disappointment Island. London: S.W. Partridge & Co.
- ^ 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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