New Zealand Plants

DSC_2925 Northern kakabeak, or kowhai ngutukaka (Clianthus puniceus) distinctive white-flowered form, originally found on the Tiniroto Cliffs above Te Reinga marae, and now critically threatened in the wild. Historic range is unclear because of Maori plantings, but probably endemic to Northland and the eastern Auckland portion of the Hauraki Gulf. The only known wild population of the Scarlet flowered form grows in short coastal scrub on talus at the base of eroding mudstone cliffs. Maori grew it for its flowers and gifted seeds as koha, while European settlers were quick to cultivate it in their gardens, although probably some garden lines of C. puniceus (which may represent historic extinct populations) may now have died out.. Flowering forms in cultivation are either scarlet, pink or entirely white. *

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DSC_2925 Northern kakabeak, or kowhai ngutukaka (Clianthus puniceus) distinctive white-flowered form, originally found on the Tiniroto Cliffs above Te Reinga marae, and now critically threatened in the wild. Historic range is unclear because of Maori plantings, but probably endemic to Northland and the eastern Auckland portion of the Hauraki Gulf. The only known wild population of the Scarlet flowered form grows in short coastal scrub on talus at the base of eroding mudstone cliffs. Maori grew it for its flowers and gifted seeds as koha, while European settlers were quick to cultivate it in their gardens, although probably some garden lines of C. puniceus (which may represent historic extinct populations) may now have died out.. Flowering forms in cultivation are either scarlet, pink or entirely white. *