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MUDDY FEET - Auckland Regional Council

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24<br />

construction). The advance of the mangroves is recorded in Chapter 4. Both human<br />

interference and natural forces can be seen to have significant effects on the coastal<br />

vegetation of this area.<br />

3.4 Threatened plants of Miranda<br />

3.4.1 Pirita, Papauma, Green Mistletoe – Ileostylus micranthus<br />

Pirita occurs in a small roadside clump of trees north of the Shorebird Centre. There it<br />

parasitises salt marsh ribbonwood, Plagianthus divaricatus, mingimingi, Coprosma<br />

propinqua and pohuehue, Muehlenbeckia complexa. Pirita was formerly widespread<br />

throughout New Zealand but in many parts of its range this mistletoe has been substantially<br />

reduced, mainly through habitat loss and a reduction in the number of birds active in seed<br />

distribution (Rebecca Stanley, personal communication). Host plants also include species of<br />

Carmichaelia (native broom), other Coprosma, Hoheria (lacebark), Leptospermum (manuka),<br />

Leucopogon (mingimingi), Lophomyrtus (ramarama, etc.) and Podocarpus. It has also been<br />

recorded on introduced plants of the genera Crataegus (hawthorn), Cytisus (broom), Pinus<br />

(pine), Platanus (plane tree), Pyrus (pear) and Rosa (rose) (Allan 1982). Cameron (2000)<br />

lists the host species in the Kaiaua - Miranda area as being Plagianthus divaricatus,<br />

Muehlenbeckia australis, Cupressus macrocarpa, Ulex europea (gorse), and Coprosma<br />

propinqua.<br />

Pirita is currently classified as “<strong>Regional</strong>ly Critical” (meaning

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