New Zealand: Needle-leaf grass tree

During my visit to Otari-Wilton’s Bush in Wellington on February 20th, I stopped to photograph the unusual shrub called the needle-leaf grass tree, Dracophyllum filifolium. The genus name means ‘dragon leaf’ and the species name means ‘thread leaf.’ Threads and needles I get, but a dragon?

If you’d like a closer look at the little larva I found on this specimen, you can click on the following alternate view to enlarge it.

© 2015 Steven Schwartzman