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Otari-Wilton's Bush
Otari-Wilton's Bush is a native botanic garden and forest reserve located in Wilton in Wellington, New Zealand. It is the only public botanic garden that is dedicated solely to the native plants of New Zealand. Overview Otari-Wilton's Bush is a public botanic garden dedicated solely to New Zealand native plants. It is the only garden of this type in New Zealand. The reserve includes of native forest, and of plant collections. The forest in the reserve contains some of the oldest trees in Wellington, including an 800-year-old rimu. Otari–Wilton's Bush is classified as a 6Star rated garden by the New Zealand Gardens Trust. It is also one of the Founding Gardens of the Trust. Otari-Wilton’s Bush has also received an international Green Flag Award that recognises and rewards well managed parks and green spaces and around the world. Otari-Wilton's Bush is owned and managed by the Wellington City Council. Location and access The gardens are located at 160 Wilton Road, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Native Plant
In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often popularised as "with no human intervention") during history. The term is equivalent to the concept of indigenous or autochthonous species. Every wild organism (as opposed to a domesticated organism) is known as an introduced species within the regions where it was anthropogenically introduced. If an introduced species causes substantial ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage, it may be regarded more specifically as an invasive species. The notion of nativity is often a blurred concept, as it is a function of both time and political boundaries. Over long periods of time, local conditions and migratory patterns are constantly changing as tectonic plates move, join, and split. Natural climate change (which is much slower than human-caused climate change) changes sea level, ice cover, temperature, and r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hebe (plant)
''Veronica'' sect. ''Hebe'' is a group of plants within the genus '' Veronica'', native to New Zealand, Rapa in French Polynesia, the Falkland Islands and South America. It was formerly treated as the separate genus ''Hebe'' (). It includes about 90 species. Almost all species occur in New Zealand, apart from ''Veronica rapensis'' (endemic to Rapa) and ''Veronica salicifolia'', found in South America. It is named after the Greek goddess of youth, Hebe. Informally, species in the section may be called shrubby veronicas or hebes. Hebes are widely grown as ornamental plants (see Cultivation below). Description Species in ''Veronica'' sect. ''Hebe'' have four perpendicular rows of leaves in opposite decussate pairs. The flowers are perfect, the corolla usually has four slightly unequal lobes, the flower has two stamens and a long style. Flowers are arranged in a spiked inflorescence. Identification of species is difficult, especially if they are not in flower. The plants range i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beilschmiedia Tawa
''Beilschmiedia tawa'', the tawa, is a New Zealand broadleaf tree common in the central parts of the country. Tawa is often the dominant canopy tree species in lowland forests in the North Island and the north east of the South Island, but will also often form the subcanopy in primary forests throughout the country in these areas, beneath podocarps such as kahikatea, matai, miro and rimu. Individual specimens may grow up to 30 metres or more in height with trunks up to 1.2 metres in diameter, and they have smooth dark bark. The Māori word "tawa" is the name for the tree. Tawa produce small inconspicuous flowers followed by 2–3.5 cm long fruit of a dark red plum colour. With such large fruits, tawa is notable for the fact that it relies solely on the New Zealand pigeon (kererū) and (where present) the North Island kokako for dispersal of its seed. These are the only remaining birds from New Zealand's original biota large enough to eat the fruits of this tree and p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Knightia Excelsa
''Knightia excelsa'', commonly called rewarewa (from Māori), is an evergreen tree endemic to the low elevation and valley forests of New Zealand's North Island and Marlborough Sounds (41° S) and the type species for the genus '' Knightia''. Rewarewa grows to 30 m tall, with a slender crown. The leaves are alternate, leathery, narrow oblong, 10 – 15 cm long and 2.5 - 3.5 cm wide, and without stipules. The flowers are 2 - 3.5 cm long, bright red, and borne in racemes 10 cm long. Produces dry woody follicles. It was called New Zealand honeysuckle by early European settlers but the name has fallen into disuse in preference for the Māori name. Rewarewa flowers are a great source for honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ... production. The rew ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melicytus Ramiflorus
''Melicytus ramiflorus'' (māhoe or whiteywood) is a small tree of the family Violaceae endemic to New Zealand. It grows up to 10 metres high with a trunk up to 60 cm in diameter, it has smooth, whitish bark and brittle twigs. The dark-green "alternate" leaves are 5–15 cm long and 3–5 cm wide and their edges are finely serrated (although this feature is less pronounced in younger plants).The plants are dioecious and the small flowers are yellowish in colouration, between 3 and 4 mm in diameter and occur in fascicles, growing straight out from naked twigs- these flowers have a strong, pleasant fragrance. The berries are a striking violet colour when ripe and are more or less spherical with a diameter of between 3 and 4 mm. Flowering occurs in late spring ( southern hemisphere )- and on into summer while the berries appear later on in summer and also in autumn. The berries of ''M. ramiflorus'' are eaten by a number of native birds, including kere ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Passiflora Tetrandra
''Passiflora tetrandra'' is a climbing vine found in New Zealand. The Māori name for the plant is kōhia. Other common names include New Zealand passionflower and New Zealand passionfruit. Of the c.500 species of passionflower, this is the sole representative from New Zealand and endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ... to New Zealand. Kōhia is a forest vine, climbing up to 10m (33 feet). Leaves are alternate, broadly lanceolate, green, shiny, and untoothed. Flowers are small, white to yellow, in groups of 1–3 in the axils of the leaves. Flowers appear between October and December. Plants are dioecious: fruit may not be produced without female-flowering plants being fertilised with pollen from separate a male-flowering plants. Fruits can be found from su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ripogonum
''Ripogonum'' (sometimes ''Rhipogonum'') is a genus of flowering plants confined to eastern Australia, New Zealand, and New Guinea. Until recently this genus was included in the family Smilacaceae, and earlier in the family Liliaceae, but it has now been separated as its own family Ripogonaceae (sometimes Rhipogonaceae). Like most species of the closely related Smilacaceae, most species of ''Ripogonum'' are woody vines. Differences from Smilacaceae include that ''Ripogonum'' lacks stipules, it has a wet rather than dry stigma, its seeds and leaves contain starch, and its guard cells contain oil. Description The six species of ''Ripogonum'' are perennials, either vines or shrubs. The leaves, which may have several different arrangements, lack stipules. The stems may have prickles. The Australian species are bisexual; others are unisexual. Individual flowers have six white to pale green or yellow tepals. The ovary has three locules with two ovules per locule. The fruit is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epiphyte
An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phorophytes. Epiphytes take part in nutrient cycles and add to both the diversity and biomass of the ecosystem in which they occur, like any other organism. They are an important source of food for many species. Typically, the older parts of a plant will have more epiphytes growing on them. Epiphytes differ from parasites in that they grow on other plants for physical support and do not necessarily affect the host negatively. An organism that grows on another organism that is not a plant may be called an epibiont. Epiphytes are usually found in the temperate zone (e.g., many mosses, liverworts, lichens, and algae) or in the tropics (e.g., many ferns, cacti, orchids, and bromeliads). Epiphyte species make good houseplants due to their minimal wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rimu
''Dacrydium cupressinum'', commonly known as rimu, is a large evergreen coniferous tree endemic to the forests of New Zealand. It is a member of the southern conifer group, the podocarps. The Māori name ''rimu'' comes from the Polynesian term ''limu'' which the tree's foliage were reminded of, ultimately from Proto-Austronesian *''limut'' meaning "moss". The former name "red pine" has fallen out of common use. Distribution Rimu grows throughout New Zealand, in the North Island, South Island and Stewart Island/Rakiura. This species is common in lowland and montane forest. Although the largest concentration of trees is now found on the West Coast of the South Island, the biggest trees tend to be in mixed podocarp forest near Taupō (e.g., Pureora, Waihaha, and Whirinaki Forests). A typical North Island habitat is in the Hamilton Ecological District, where ''Fuscospora truncata'' and rimu form the overstory. Associate ferns on the forest floor are ''Blechnum discolor'', ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Totara
''Podocarpus totara'' (; from the Maori-language ; the spelling "totara" is also common in English) is a species of podocarp tree endemic to New Zealand. It grows throughout the North Island and northeastern South Island in lowland, montane and lower subalpine forest at elevations of up to 600 m. Tōtara is commonly found in lowland areas where the soil is fertile and well drained. Description The tōtara is a medium to large tree, which grows slowly to around 20 to 25 m, exceptionally to 35 m; it is noted for its longevity and the great girth of its trunk. The bark peels off in papery flakes, with a purplish to golden brown hue. The sharp, dull-green, needle-like leaves are stiff and leathery, 2 cm long. This plant produces highly modified cones with two to four fused, fleshy, berry-like, juicy scales, bright red when mature. The cone contains one or two rounded seeds at the apex of the scales. The largest known living tōtara, the Pouakani Tree, near Pureora in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prumnopitys Ferruginea
''Prumnopitys ferruginea'', commonly called miro, is an evergreen coniferous tree which is endemic to New Zealand. Before the genus '' Prumnopitys'' was distinguished, it was treated in the related genus ''Podocarpus'' as ''Podocarpus ferrugineus''. It grows up to 25 m high, with a trunk up to 1.3 m diameter. The leaves are linear to sickle-shaped, 15–25 mm long and 2–3 mm broad, with downcurved margins. The plants are dioecious with pollen cones being solitary while those of female plants hang from a curved, scaly stalk. The seed cones are highly modified, reduced to a central stem 2–3 cm long bearing 1-3 scales, each scale maturing berry-like, oval, about 20 mm long and 10–15 mm broad, red to purple-red with a soft edible pulp covering the single seed. The seeds are dispersed by the New Zealand pigeon, which eats the very conspicuous 'berries' and passes the seeds in its droppings. It is found growing on both lowland terrain and on hill slope ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prumnopitys Taxifolia
''Prumnopitys taxifolia'', the mataī ( mi, mataī) or black pine, is an endemic New Zealand coniferous tree that grows on the North Island and South Island. It also occurs on Stewart Island/Rakiura (47 °S) but is uncommon there. It grows up to 40 m high, with a trunk up to 2 m diameter. The leaves are linear to sickle-shaped, 10–15 mm long and 1.5–2 mm broad. The seed cones are highly modified, reduced to a central stem 3–4 cm long bearing 1-6 scales, each scale maturing berry-like, 10–15 mm long, violet-purple with a soft edible pulp covering the single seed. The seeds are dispersed by the New Zealand pigeon (kererū), which eats the 'berries' and passes the seeds in its droppings. Classification The scientific name ''taxifolia'' derives from the resemblance of the leaves to those of the yew (''Taxus''). In the past the species, like the other species of '' Prumnopitys'', was often included in ''Podocarpus''; in this species under the name '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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