About Dracophyllum recurvum Hook.fil.
Dracophyllum recurvum Hook.fil. shows great variation in physical characteristics based on changes in altitude. At lower altitudes, it grows up to one metre high, and its leaves are dark green. At higher altitudes, it grows to less than five centimetres high, and its leaves have red and grey tones. The branches of this plant are covered in greyish bark. Its leaves are typically 10 to 40 millimetres (0.39 to 1.57 inches) long and usually around 2 millimetres (0.079 inches) wide. It can be told apart from other species in the Dracophyllum genus by its thin, recurved leaves.
Dracophyllum recurvum grows in subalpine and alpine environments on the volcanic Central Plateau of the North Island of New Zealand. It is particularly abundant on Mount Ruapehu and on the other mountains located in Tongariro National Park. This species is one of the few plants that can survive the extreme conditions found on Ruapehu. Its wide-spreading root system firmly anchors the plant to the thin soil there, and this root system also helps slow mountain erosion.
