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Environment
Chris Lusk, Associate Professor of Ecology, University of Waikato

How the Ice Ages spurred the evolution of New Zealand’s weird and wiry native plants

Shutterstock/Sebastian Schuster

Recent genetic research has shed new light on the long-running debate about the evolutionary origins of some of New Zealand’s quirkiest plants.

More than one in ten native trees and shrubs have small leaves spaced far apart on wiry interlaced branches, often growing in a zig-zag pattern. Once the preserve of botanists, some of these plants have recently gained popularity as ornamentals.

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