Dracophyllum elegantissimum
"Dracophyllum elegantissimum," commonly known as grass tree or slender dragon tree, is a flowering plant in the family "Ericaceae". Endemic to New Zealand, it is found in the north of the South Island, in north-west Nelson. Description. "Dracophyllum elegantissimum" is a single-stemmed tree which grows to a height of . It's branches have flaky light brown bark with leaves concentrated in tufts similar to that of plants in the family Bromeliaceae, together forming a candelabra-shaped crown. The light green leaves are leathery and sheathed in light brown sheathes. Glabrous and very finely toothed, such that  there are 12–24 teeth every 10mm, the leaves are also curled. It flowers from December until February, producing 600–1000 or more flowers on a pyramid-shaped long inflorescence. Fruiting occurs from February to March, yielding yellow-brown long filiform seeds. "D. elegantissimum" is very similar to "D. traversii," but differs most clearly from the latter by its long, thin leaves which are curled at the ends. It also has smaller nectary scales and ovaries as well as longer inflorescence bracts, however. It is also allied to "D. latifolium," but can be identified by its longer inflorescence bracts, corolla lobes  which are shorter than the corolla tubes, as well as smaller nectary scales and ovaries. Distribution and habitat. "D. elegantissimum" is endemic to New Zealand and is found only in north-west Nelson in lowland to upper montane forests. They are almost always found on 5 - 45˚ south-west to north-west facing slopes. Taxonomy. Discovery and naming. It was first described in 2004 by Stephanus Venter in the "New Zealand Journal of Botany". It was first collected, however, 36 years earlier in 1968 by A. P. Druce who identified it as "Dracophyllum traversii". The specimen was collected from Moa  Park in Abel Tasman National Park and its differences were discovered later, during a separate study on "D. traversii". Etymology. "Dracophyllum" means dragon leaf which comes from its similarity to the dragon tree. It gets the Specific epithet "elegantissimum," Latin for elegant, due to the graceful way in which the canopy forms and its long, narrow leaves.