mutton-bird scrubn.
/ˌmʌt(ə)nbəːd ˈskrʌb/, U.S. /ˌməd(ə)nˌbərd ˈskrəb/, New Zealand English /ˌmʌd(ə)nbɜːd ˈskrʌb/ New Zealand.
Any of various shrubs or small trees of the family Asteraceae ( Compositae), found in coastal areas of southernmost New Zealand, which have leathery leaves densely hairy underneath; esp. Brachyglottis rotundifolia ( Senecio reinoldii), or (less frequently) any of several kinds of daisy bush, Olearia spp., esp. O. colensoi. Also: vegetation consisting of or dominated by such shrubs and trees.
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the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > non-British trees or shrubs > Australasian trees > [noun] > other Australasian trees or shrubs
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1889 Zealandia 1 149 Olearia colensoi..in common with another large-leaved plant (Senecio rotundifolius) bears the name of Mutton Bird scrub, from the fact that..these bushes are favourite hiding-places for mutton-birds.
1906 R. M. Laing & E. W. Blackwell Plants N.Z. 438 S[enecio] rotundifolius is the mutton-bird scrub of Stewart Island. Its leaves are much used by tourists for post cards, the white tomentum of the underside affording a suitable surface for writing.
1914 W. H. Guthrie-Smith Mutton Birds & Other Birds 13 Amongst this bracken's miserable short fronds..grow groundsel trees scattered in park-like isolation. Mutton Bird scrub is its island name.
1953 E. Linklater Year of Space (1954) 203 There is mutton-bird scrub [on Stewart Island] with thick green leaves that have white undersides.
1964 G. Dempsey Little World Stewart Island 47 The familiar mutton-bird scrub, tupare, covers much of the ground and there is a handsome relative, also called tupare, which grows only on a few of the islands in Foveaux Strait.
1982 H. D. Wilson Stewart Island Plants 102 The term ‘muttonbird scrub’ is often used generally for coastal scrub dominated by any of the tree daisies, frequently mixed with inaka.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1889