Classification
Class
Magnoliopsida Brongn.
Order
Ericales Bercht. & J.Presl
Family
Ericaceae
Genus
Dracophyllum Labill.
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Dracophyllum densum W.R.B.Oliv., Trans. Roy. Soc. New Zealand 80: 3 (1952)
Synonymy:
Type: New Zealand. Westport, Mount Rochfort, 2000 feet [~610 m], 2 Mar. 1949. W.R.B. Oliver s.n. (holo: WELT 314!).
Etymology:
Refers to the densely packed leaves.
 Description

Shrub with inner branches erect, sts as much as 2 m. tall; outer prostrate; bark dark grey. Branchlets us. densely clad in imbricate persistent lvs or lf-bases throughout, bark reddish brown. Sheath ciliolate, 2–3 × 1–2 mm., margins white, narrowed into linear plano-convex, sts keeled lamina ± 10–12 × 0·5 mm., margins almost entire, apex obtuse. Fls solitary, terminal on branchlets; lower bracts narrow-ovate, gradually tapering to apex, ciliolate. Sepals narrow-ovate, ciliolate. Corolla-tube c. 5 mm. long; lobes white, triangular. c. 1·5 mm. long. Anthers sessile at throat. Capsule ± 2 mm. diam., truncate, 5-lobed.

[From: Allan (1961) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 1.]

 Biostatus
Indigenous (Endemic)
 Bibliography
de Lange, P.J.; Norton, D.A.; Courtney, S.P.; Heenan, P.B.; Barkla, J.W.; Cameron, E.K.; Hitchmough, R.; Townsend, A.J. 2009: Threatened and uncommon plants of New Zealand (2008 revision). New Zealand Journal of Botany 47: 61–96. [Declining]
de Lange, P.J.; Norton, D.A.; Heenan, P.B.; Courtney, S.P.; Molloy, B.P.J.; Ogle, C.C.; Rance, B.D. 2004: Threatened and uncommon plants of New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 42(1): 45–76.
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Barkla J.W.; Courtney, S.P.; Champion, P.D.; Perrie, L.R.; Beadel, S.N.; Ford, K.A.; Breitwieser, I.; Schönberger, I.; Hindmarsh-Walls, R.; Heenan, P.B.; Ladley, K. 2018: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017. New Zealand Threat Classification Series. No. 22. [Declining]
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Champion, P.D.; Courtney, S.P.; Heenan, P.B.; Barkla, J.W.; Cameron, E.K.; Norton, D.A.; Hitchmough, R.A. 2013: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2012. New Zealand Threat Classification Series 3. Department of Conservation, Wellington. [Declining]
Oliver, W.R.B. 1952: A revision of the genus Dracophyllum; Supplement. Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand 80: 1–17.
Venter, S. 2021: A taxonomic revision of the Australasian genera Dracophyllum and Richea (Richeeae: Styphelioideae: Ericaceae). Australian Systematic Botany 34: 1–205.