Creeping mirrorplant

Coprosma repens, the creeping mirrorplant or taupata, is a dense evergreen shrub or small tree in the Rubiaceae family, endemic to coastal regions of New Zealand. Although often kept low and spreading by salt wind, in sheltered sites it can grow into a small tree 3 to 8 metres tall with a thick trunk. The leaves are its most distinctive feature: opposite, broadly elliptic to obovate, 2 to 8 centimetres long, very thick and leathery, with strikingly glossy dark green upper surfaces that catch the light (hence 'mirrorplant'), and paler undersides. Small interpetiolar stipules are characteristic of the family. Flowers are inconspicuous, greenish, unisexual and dioecious, borne in clusters in the leaf axils. Fruits are bright orange to red ovoid drupes about 8 to 10 millimetres long, ripening in late summer and providing food for native birds. The plant is highly tolerant of salt spray and is widely planted in coastal gardens worldwide.