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Story: Shrubs and small trees of the forest

Stinkwood

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Stinkwood

An unpleasant sulfurous smell develops when some coprosma leaves are crushed. The genus was named for its smell – copros is Greek for dung, and the common name is stinkwood.

Stinkwood (Coprosma foetidissima) grows in high-altitude forests and subalpine scrub throughout New Zealand and extends south to the Auckland Islands.

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How to cite this page

Joanna Orwin, Shrubs and small trees of the forest – Coprosmas, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/13835/stinkwood (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Joanna Orwin, published 1 March 2009, updated 1 July 2015.