Stilbocarpa polaris

Stilbocarpa
Stilbocarpa polaris on Campbell Island
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Apiales
Family:	Araliaceae
Subfamily:	Aralioideae
Genus:	Stilbocarpa
Species:	S. polaris
Binomial name
Stilbocarpa polaris (Homb. et Jacq.) Gray
Synonyms
Aralia 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. It was used as a food source and a scurvy preventative by early explorers and sealers. On Macquarie Island it was threatened by introduced black rats and European rabbits^[1] until their eradication in 2011.

References

1. Skotnicki, M.L.; Selkirk, P.M.; Kitajima, E.; McBride, T.P.; 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.