Kakabeak
4661048
222366854
2008-06-28T23:46:51Z
Eric in SF
2581748
{{Taxobox
| name = Kakabeak
| status = EN
| status_system = iucn2.3
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn">{{IUCN2006|assessors=de Lange|year=1998|id=30385|title=Clianthus puniceus|downloaded=11 May 2006}} Listed as Endangered (EN D v2.3) </ref>
| image =Clianthus puniceus.jpg
| image_width = 250px
| image_caption = Kaka Beak leaves and flowers
| regnum = [[Plantae]]
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Fabales]]
| familia = [[Fabaceae]]
| subfamilia = [[Faboideae]]
| genus = '''''Clianthus'''''
| genus_authority = Sol. ex Lindl.
| species = '''''C. puniceus'''''
| binomial = ''Clianthus puniceus''
| binomial_authority = (G.Don) Sol. ex Lindl. <ref name="speciesInfo">[http://nzflora.landcareresearch.co.nz/WebForms/NameDetailsForm.aspx?Action=Display&NameId=Landcareresearch.co.nz/PS1/NK/226399&StateId=&FindNode=true Entry in New Zealand Plants database], Landcare Research. Retrieved [[7 April]] [[2006]].</ref>
}}
'''''Clianthus puniceus''''' called the '''Kakabeak''' (''Kōwhai ngutukākā'' in [[Māori]]) is a woody [[legume]] [[shrub]] native to [[New Zealand]]'s [[North Island]], with striking clusters of red flowers. These flowers resemble the beak of the [[Kākā]], a New Zealand parrot, and the plant is also known as Parrot's Beak, Parrot's Bill and Lobster Claw. There is also a variety with white to creamy coloured flowers.
The species is endangered in the wild, with only 153 trees found in a 2005 survey (down from over 1000 in 1996), mainly in the [[East Coast, New Zealand|East Cape]] region<ref name="survey">[http://www.doc.govt.nz/Whats-New/presult.asp?prID=2079 Wild kakabeak close to extinction], [[New Zealand Department of Conservation|Department of Conservation]] press release, [[23 December]] [[2005]]. Retrieved [[8 April]] [[2006]].</ref>. They are widely grown as a garden plant, but the cultivated lines are descended from only a few plants and are not [[Genetic diversity|genetically diverse]].
Kakabeak grow to around two metres high, with spreading branches producing leaf stalks up to 15 cm long bearing several pairs of small leaflets. They usually flower from spring through to early summer, but can flower twice a year or even year round<ref name="">"''Kakabeak''", pp. 168-169 in Gerard Hutching's ''The Natural World of New Zealand'', Penguin Books (NZ) Ltd, 1998. ISBN 0-670-87782-4</ref>.
There are three other genera of native legumes in New Zealand; ''[[Carmichaelia]]'', ''[[Montigena]]'', and ''[[Sophora]]''<ref name="NZLegumes">[http://www.rhizobia.co.nz/taxonomy/legume.html Taxonomy of New Zealand Native Legumes]. Retrieved [[7 April]] [[2006]].</ref>. Kakabeak also has some similarities to [[Sturt's desert pea]] from Australia, which was initially grouped together with Kakabeak in the genus ''Clianthus''.
Kakabeak featured on a New Zealand 2 cent stamp in 1967.
== Notes ==
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==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:CPuniceusDrawing.jpg|Botanical illustration from Cook's first voyage
Image:Clianthus puniceus2.jpg|Variety with white flowers
</gallery>
==External links==
*ARKive - [http://www.arkive.org/species/GES/plants_and_algae/Clianthus_puniceus/ images and movies of the Kaka-beak ''(Clianthus puniceus)'']
*[http://www.habitas.org.uk/gardenflora/clianthus.htm Kakabeak photos]
[[Category:Faboideae]]
[[Category:Trees of New Zealand]]
[[es:Clianthus puniceus]]
[[nl:Clianthus puniceus]]