Mature rimu (top) and kahikatea (bottom) have scale leaves on their branchlets and produce swollen, fruit-like structures (receptacles) to support and partially protect their seeds. Rimu seeds, borne on the tips of upturned branchlets, take about 18 months to ripen after pollination. Kahikatea seeds develop a bluish bloom as they ripen, some six months after pollination. Birds eat the seeds and fleshy receptacles, and distribute the seeds which pass through their digestive system intact.
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Department of Conservation
Reference:
10048396 (top); 10054778 (bottom)
Photographs by Don Merton (top); R. Walker (bottom)
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