Stilbocarpa polaris

Stilbocarpa polaris, commonly known as the Macquarie Island cabbage, is a species of flowering plant usually placed in the family Araliaceae. It is a megaherb, growing up to about a metre in height, native to the subantarctic islands of New Zealand and to Australia’s Macquarie Island.

Stilbocarpa polaris
Stilbocarpa polaris on Campbell Island
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Apiales
Family:	Araliaceae
Genus:	Stilbocarpa
Species:	S. polaris
Binomial name
Stilbocarpa polaris (Homb. et Jacq.) Gray
Synonyms
Aralia polaris

Uses

S. polaris was used as a food source and a scurvy preventative by early explorers and sealers.[1]

Conservation status

It is classified as "At Risk - Naturally Uncommon" in the New Zealand threatened plants classification system.[2] On Macquarie Island, it was threatened by introduced black rats and European rabbits,[1] until their eradication in 2011.

References

1. Skotnicki, M.; Selkirk, P.; Kitajima, E.; McBride, T.; Shaw, J. & Mackenzie, A. (January 2003). "The first subantarctic plant virus report: Stilbocarpa mosaic bacilliform badnavirus (SMBV) from Macquarie Island". Polar Biology. 26 (1): 1–7. doi:10.1007/s00300-002-0421-8.
2. de Lange, Peter; et al. (2012). Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2012 (PDF). Department of Conservation. ISBN 978-0-478-14995-1.