Plant profiles  -  Scandia

Family : Apiaceae





Scandia geniculata
Climbing aniseed

In horticultural literature, plants are often damned with faint praise, by referring to them as 'likely to appeal to collectors'. With regard to this, it is interesting to track the path that some unusual or little-known species take from being considered 'collector's items', to valued garden plants. Sometimes, this is down to evolution in people's appreciation of plants (such as the increasing popularity of divaricates), and sometimes it can be attributed to increased understanding of how to use plants to best effect in the garden.




Therein lies the lesson; if S. geniculata is employed in a similar manner to such natural growth patterns, it can be a profoundly beautiful garden plant. Divaricates make ideal frames, as their growth structures allow for densely-packed 'fields' of S. geniculata's pretty white umbels. Other applications that have been suggested for using Scandia geniculata in the garden1 are its use within hanging baskets or as a groundcover. As an aside, one interesting quality of the species is that both its foliage and fruits taste mildly of aniseed2.

In botanical terms, S. geniculata is highly unusual - as a climbing member of the carrot family, Apiaceae. Indeed, the climbing/scrambling habit is a major factor in the separation of the two species of Scandia into their own genus (the name is derived from the Latin, scandere, which means 'to climb'3). Its specific epithet, 'geniculata' is derived from the Latin word for 'jointed', no doubt referring to the manner by which its climbing stems are arranged. It occurs naturally in shrubland and forest margins, from the Wellington region south to Otago.

Scandia rosifolia



Scandia rosifolia is considered to be an 'At Risk' species, and is currently classified as 'Declining' in the wild. One of the primary threats is that it is quite a palatable species, meaning that remaining populations endure in locations that browsing animals find difficult to access, such as cliffs. The impact of browsing animals is a common threat to native species, and leads to not only the disappearance of established plants, but (perhaps more importantly) a lack of 'recruitment' of young plants, to replenish the population. S. rosifolia is found from the Three Kings Islands down to the lower North Island.

Peculiarly, Scandia rosifolia was first collected in 1769 (by Banks and Solander, at several coastal sites) on Cook's first voyage to New Zealand, but then escaped the attention of botanists for another 75 years6. It was then collected by William Colenso and Dr. Andrew Sinclair, and subsequently described and named by Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (then director of Kew Gardens). Because Solander's illustration and name were never published, it is officially known by the species name that Hooker bestowed upon it7.




  1. On the NZ Plant Conservation Network's website,
  2. As noted in Hugh Wilson's book, 'Small-leaved shrubs of New Zealand' (1993. Christchurch, Manuka Press).
  5. The distinction between the two forms is noted on the New Zealand Plant Conservation Network's website,, and in the most recent expanded publication of Eagle's Trees and Shrubs of New Zealand. Within the latter, it was the ambition of the author to provide the most up-to-date information on native species, even where distinctions have not yet been fully formally recognised. As a result, it is a valuable resource concerning the latest botanical research. The late Tony Druce, one of New Zealand's most important botanists, recognised this distinction in his notes on the Te Mata Peak populations of S. rosifolia, which grow on inland limestone cliffs on the Peak.
  6. The account of this is provided in Thomas Cheeseman's work, 'Illustrations of the New Zealand Flora' (1914. Wellington, Government Printer).
  7. However, the name of the genus has subsequently been changed from Hooker's classification (Angelica) to the new genus, Scandia.