Austroderia richardii (toetoe)
Large growing and distinctive grass that forms a large clump of tough foliage and majestic flower spikes up to 2m tall. Very tough, hardy and fast growing withstanding strong winds, costal conditions, drought and cold conditions.
Habitat: Abundant, from the coast to subalpine areas. Common along stream banks, river beds, around lake margins, and in other wet places. Also found in sand dunes.
Flowering: September - November
Fruiting: October - March
Carmichaelia australis (makaka, native broom)
An erect bush with tiny inconspicuous leaves and mauve flowers in spring. Stems are flattened. Attractive to bees. Evergreen. Prefers full sun and tolerates dry, windy and cold sites. Hardy.
Habitat: Coastal to montane, on river terraces, stream banks, colluvium, rock outcrops, talus and fan toe slopes, among tussock grassland and grey scrub, on the edge and margins of dense bush, forest, and in swamps.
Flowering: October - February
Fruiting: November - May [Berries: Red]
Coprosma crassifolia (mikimiki, thick-leaved coprosma)
Stiffly-branched upright shrub with small dark-green leaves. White to pale-yellow berries attract skinks and birds. Tough shelter and revegetation for drought-prone sites. Upright, columnar habit is good for narrow spaces.
Habitat: Found in scrub, tussocklands, river terraces, rocky places and forests - from sea-level to 400m.
Flowering:
Fruiting: March to April [Berries: Yellow]
Coprosma propinqua (mikimiki)
A small, tough, bushy tree with interlaced foliage. Laden with fruit that changes from white to dark blue, makes good pigeon food. Good low shelter. Hardy and tolerates damp. Evergreen.
Habitat: Found in lowland forest, along forest margins and streambanks, in scrub, gravelly places and along the edges of bogs and swamps.
Flowering: October to November
Fruiting: March to May [Berries: Dark Blue]
Coprosma robusta (karamu)
Fast-growing shelter, hedging and nurse plant. Competes well with gorse. Laden with bright-orange fruit/seeds January-July, which attracts birds. Shade tolerant. Evergreen. Suits low-frost sites. Evergreen.
Habitat: Common throughout coastal, lowland and lower montane habitats within shrublands and open sites within forest.
Flowering: August to September
Fruiting: January to July [Berries: Orange]
Cordyline australis (ti kouka, cabbage tree)
One of the most identifiable New Zealand native plants in the landcape. It has a tall straight trunk or trunks and a dense round head, with a sphere of long narrow leaves. Cabbage tree produces a profusion of attractive and scented flowers in spring. It is an abundant seeder. It looks most natural in the ornamental garden if planted in groups. Three or more plants can be planted together in the same hole to produce this effect. It grows in all soils and situations, even in swampy ground, where little else of interest will grow.
Habitat: Widespread and common from coastal to montane forest. Most commonly encountered on alluvial terraces within riparian forest.
Flowering: October to December
Fruiting: January to April [Fruit: White]
Corokia cotoneaster (korokio)
Good hedging and ornamental shrub. Attractive fine silver/grey foliage with bright yellow flowers in early summer. Densely interlaced branchlets. Red berries/seed. Evergreen. Very hardy to drought and cold.
Habitat: Found in scrub and on dry river flats and rocky places throughout the country.
Flowering: September - December
Fruiting: January - May [Fruit: Red]
Discaria toumatou (matagouri) [Out of Stock]
A divaricating shrub that grows to small tree size in the wild. Flowers are white and inconspicuous, but sweetly fragrant. Nitrogen-fixer. Common in dry shrublands of the eastern South Island.
Habitat: Found in dry riverbeds, open rocky places and sand dunes from coastal to subalpine.
Flowering: October - January
Fruiting: December - March [Fruit: Orange]
Dodonaea viscosa (akeake)
Ornamental small bushy erect tree. Attractive brown flaky bark. The long shining leaves are bright green and dense on erect branches. The seed capsule is most attractive in the autumn. Wind resistant, and grows in coastal sites. Good for shelter in light sandy soils.
Habitat: Coastal to lowland forest, occupying a range of habitats from dunefields and boulder beaches through coastal scrub to lowland forest. Rarely forming a dominant tree in coastal forest.
Flowering: August - November
Fruiting: November - April [Fruit: Yellow-winged]
Griselinia littoralis (kapuka, broadleaf) [Out of Stock]
Small, round-headed tree with light-green leathery leaves. Excellent for hedging or shelter. Withstands drought and coastal conditions. Trim in summer.
Habitat: Found in lowland forests to subalpine scrub.
Flowering: October to December
Fruiting: December to August [Fruit: Purple]
Kunzea ericoides (kanuka)
Kanuka is a fast growing tree found throughout the north of the South Island. The leaves are softer to touch than Manuka and has smaller white flowers in Summer. It is very hardy, tolerating drought, frosts and poor soils. It is a primary colonising plant and used for revegetation as a nurse plant. Both manuka and kanuka are used as a nurse crop with other early colonizing plants for revegetation / restoration planting and are also very effective in erosion control.
Habitat: Coastal to lowland shrubland, regenerating forest and forest margins, also present in montane forest, ultramafic shrubland and very occasionally present in subalpine shrubland.
Flowering: October to February
Fruiting: November to March
Kunzea robusta (kanuka)
Widespread, common tree of North and South Islands. Bark usually basally detached long leathery strips. Branches bearing masses of green leaves and clusters of small white flowers.
Habitat: Coastal to lowland shrubland, regenerating forest and forest margins, also present in montane forest, ultramafic shrubland and very occasionally present in subalpine shrubland (up to 900 m a.s.l.).
Flowering: August to June
Fruiting: July to May
Leptospermum scoparium (manuka, tea tree)
A fast growing shrub with abundant white flowers in Summer. The flowers are attractive to bees. The leaves are very small and prickly to touch where as kanuka leaves are soft to touch. Both manuka and kanuka are used as a nurse crop with other early colonizing plants for revegetation / restoration planting and are also very effective in erosion control.
Habitat: Abundant from coastal situations to low alpine habitats.
Flowering: December to March
Fruiting: Throughout the year
Melicytus ramiflorus (mahoe)
Melicytus ramiflorus, commonly known as whiteywood or mahoe, is one of our most common trees, found in forest and shrub throughout New Zealand and growing quickly to 5m or more. The pointed oval leaves are a bright green, with fresh growth being quite soft and an even brighter green. The bark is greyish white and becomes attractively mottled with lichens. Flowers in spring followed by numerous purple black berries. Whiteywood can be clipped for hedging or used as a shelter tree or filler, and will also make quite an attractive specimen. Avoid heavy frosts when young.
Habitat: Abundant small tree of coastal, lowland, and lower montane forests throughout the country.
Flowering: November - January
Fruiting: February - April [Fruit: Black]
Myrsine australis (mapau, red matipo) [Out of Stock]
Forms a handsome large shrub or tree with distinctive red branchlets and wavy leaf margins. Similar in appearance to Pittosporum tenuifolium. The white flowers and later the black fruit are in clusters below the leaves. Used as a specimen, shrub border or hedge.
Habitat: Occurs in lowland forests. Common tree of regenerating and mature forest in coastal to montane situations.
Flowering: December - April
Fruiting: October - February [Fruit: Black]
Olearia paniculata (akiraho, golden akeake)
A rounded small tree with yellowish-green wavy leaves. Fragrant sweet-scented flowers are borne in autumn. A good shelter and hedge plant. Hardy and tolerant of coastal conditions.
Habitat: Found in scrub.
Flowering: March - April
Fruiting:
Phormium tenax (harakeke, swamp flax)
One of the oldest plant species in New Zealand and it is unique to New Zealand. With its sword-shaped leaves it is a common feature of the New Zealand landscape. It grows up to 2 -3 metres high and its flower stalks can reach up to 4 metres. The flowers are brownish red in Summer, followed by black seed pods that stand upright from the stems. It is very hardy and fast growing with wide environmental tolerances. It will grow in dry and wet conditions, withstand strong and coastal winds and are frost hardy. It is used for hedging or shelter and in mixed native planting. It is also a pioneer plant meaning it should be one of the species planted first in a restoration planting plan as it establishes quickly when planted and shelters other plants.
Habitat: Common from lowland and coastal areas to montane forest, usually but not exclusively, in wetlands and in open ground along riversides.
Flowering: October to December
Fruiting: January to March
Pittosporum eugenioides (tarata, lemonwood)
Bushy tree ideal as specimen or hedging. Lemon scented foliage and fragrant flowers (spring).
Habitat: Common tree of regenerating and mature forest in coastal to montane situations.
Flowering: October to January
Fruiting: February to May [Fruit: Black]
Pittosporum tenuifolium (kohuhu, black matipo)
Extremely popular, adaptable and quick-growing. Shiny light-green foliage with wavy margins and reddish brown branchlets. Fragrant dark red flowers in spring. Exellent plant for hedging and shelter.
Habitat: A small tree of coastal to montane shrubland and forested habitats. Preferring successional habitats.
Flowering: October - January
Fruiting: February - May
Pseudopanax arboreus (whauwhaupaku, fivefinger)
This is one of New Zealand's most common native trees found from Cape Reinga to Bluff in lowland forests. Its particular form of a glossy, five to seven fingered leaf along with quick and luxuriant growth. It grows into a small stout tree up to 5 metres high and grows well in most soils and situations. Fast growing with small purplish black berries in autumn.
Habitat: Coastal to montane (10-750 m a.s.l.). Moist broadleaf forest. Frequently epiphytic. A frequent component of secondary forest. Streamsides and forest margins.
Flowering: June to August
Fruiting: August to February [Fruit: Black]
Sophora prostrata (dwarf kowhai)
Dense, tangled wiry kowhai shrub with sparse foliage and hidden orange-yellow flowers in late spring. Semi-deciduous. Very tough on exposed, cold, dry sites.
Habitat: Found from the coast to subalpine in open rocky planes.
Flowering: September to October
Fruiting: January -
Veronica salicifolia (koromiko, hebe salicifolia)
Fast-growing large, spreading shrub. Provides good low shelter and is an excellent revegetation plant. It has showy white to pale lilac drooping flowers and willow-like foliage. Prefers a moist soil. Trim after flowering in a garden setting.
Habitat: Occurs from sea-level to close to the treeline, mostly in open sites, and in forest.
Flowering: December to June
Fruiting: January to June
