Identifying and classifying native plants of Aotearoa
Angiosperms
Angiosperms or flowering plants are the largest and most diverse group of plants in the world. We take a glance at a small number of more prominent native angiosperms of Aotearoa.
- Kōwhai has bright, golden yellow, bell-shaped flowers that bloom in late winter and early spring. Kōwhai flowers represent strength and courage in Māori culture.
- Pōhutukawa, the New Zealand Christmas tree, blooms with red flowers in summer. Rātā also produces a haze of red flowers. Pōhutukawa are often large angiosperms. For example, there is a protected pōhutukawa in the Parnell Rose Gardens, whose great, arching, graceful branches that touch the ground provide a place for children to climb and play.
- Mānuka and kānuka have small white flowers. The alliteration "kānuka kind, mānuka mean" can help you to distinguish a mānuka from a kānuka: mānuka leaves have sharp tips, while the ends of kānuka leaves are rounded. Delicious honeys are produced by kānuka and mānuka pollinator bees.
- Beech trees produce tiny flowers. Large stands of beech forest grow in mountainous areas. Approximately 4.2 million hectares of New Zealand contains some beech and 2 million hectares is pure beech forest.
- In New Zealand, mountain flax or wharariki (Phormium cookianum) produces yellow flowers and swamp flax or harakeke (Phormium tenax) produces red flowers. Swamp flax has much larger, rigid blades with a hard rib.
- Raupō or bulrushes grow in wetlands (ngā repō). Tussock grows in high plateaus and swamp flax grows in wetlands.
- Nīkau palms (rhopalostylis sapida) are the world's southernmost palm tree. They have a beautiful crown of fronds sprouting from a bulb high in the forest ceiling. They have ring marks around the trunk from fronds they have discarded. The berries that grow from the tangly stalks below the bulb are popular with native birds such as kererū, which scatter the seed in their excretion.
Gymnosperms
Native gymnosperms, or plants that produce a seed not contained within an ovary or fruit, include tōtara, kauri, mataī, miro, rimu, and kahikatea. A nickname for these trees is rākau rangatira as they are the tallest trees in New Zealand, often rising above the canopy of their surrounding trees. These gymnosperms are conifers (plants that reproduce via cones rather than seeds enclosed in a fruit), which is the main group of gymnosperms (the other groups are cycads and ginkgos). They are softwoods, which makes them useful timber and slow-burning firewood. Many are ancient.
- Kahikatea is the tallest tree in the New Zealand forest, with many specimens attaining a height of 60 metres.
- Kauri is recognized for its tall, straight trunk, which was fashioned into war canoes and used to build houses. The fourth largest tree in the world is a giant kauri called Tāne Mahuta in Waipoua Forest. Kauri belongs to the araucaria family.
- Tōtara has a bark that peels off in strips and a reddish-brown light timber. It is common in lowland areas of the North and South islands on fertile, well-drained to drought-prone soils.
- Mataī trees are recognized from the trunk’s hammered appearance, which is the result of chunks of bark flaking off.
- Rimu has characteristic long, drooping branches.
Ferns
Ferns produce pinnate (like "pinnae," bird feathers) leaves, also called fronds, which usually unfurl from a fiddlehead. Unlike both angiosperms and gymnosperms, ferns reproduce using a spore, not a seed.
Though we call some species tree ferns, ferns are not technically trees. Ferns existed on earth long before the flowering or cone-bearing plants evolved and are associated with the Carboniferous era.
Some of the names for New Zealand ferns you will encounter are ponga, mamaku and wheki.
Though we call some species tree ferns, ferns are not technically trees. Ferns existed on earth long before the flowering or cone-bearing plants evolved and are associated with the Carboniferous era.
Some of the names for New Zealand ferns you will encounter are ponga, mamaku and wheki.
Mosses, hornworts and liverworts
Mosses, hornworts and liverworts (bryophytes) are abundant in New Zealand and grow beside streams, on tree trunks and on the forest floor. They are an important part of carbon and water cycles. They reproduce via spores carried by water.
Ecological environment
New Zealand species originated on Gondwana but developed in isolation over millions of years. Two waves of extinction occurred, the first with the Māori arrival and the second with the European arrival.
What factors do we have to consider when planting natives?
We remember to consider the heights the plants will grow to in adulthood. We remember that plants that have a high canopy can protect smaller species from wind and frost. Aftercare for the ground is important; it may be necessary to weed, protect nutrition in the form of mulch, and moist soils are key. We try to keep the plants cool and moist. We aerate the soil.