Plant of the month for June is the coastal maire, Nestegis apetala. Coastal maire is a stout spreading tree up to 10 m tall with a trunk that can reach up to 1 m diameter. In New Zealand, it occurs in the North Island, including northern offshore islands from the Three Kings Islands south to Hauturu, near Whangamata, and also on Norfolk Island. It grows in coastal forest, often along exposed margins, rocky slopes, cliff faces, talus slopes and exposed ridgelines. It is dioecious, having male and female flowers on separate plants, and can be easily grown from fresh seed. Although frost-sensitive, it can make an excellent specimen tree for a large garden or street avenue. Once established, coastal maire is extremely tolerant of drought, strong winds and salt burn. It can be confused occasionally with its cousin, white maire (N. lanceolata), which very occasionally grows with N. apetala in northern coastal forest. White maire differs by having much narrower (up to 30 mm wide) ovate-lanceolate to narrow-elliptic leaves with a midrib that is adaxially deeply impressed. See the Network fact sheet for Nestegis apetala at: nzpcn.org.nz/flora_details.aspx?ID=1031
Posted on: Thu, 27 Jun 2013 00:49:14 +0000
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