editorial

Eagle (2006) recognises C. brunnea and gives the distribution as Cobb Valley. The type of C. brunnea was collected on the Canterbury Plains, while the type of C. acerosa was collected from coastal sandy rocks at Hokianga Harbour. Markey & de Lange (2003) showed results from DNA sequencing on Coprosma section Acerosae, and concluded, "This molecular work is inconclusive as to the distinctiveness of C. brunnea from C. acerosa. Indeed, the genetic distance between North Island and South Island individuals is greater than between South Island individuals of C. acerosa and C. brunnea". They indicated that C. acerosa is a coastal species while C. brunnea is an inland species that rarely occurs on the coast.