''Pseudopanax lessonii'', or houpara, is a
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...
native tree belonging to the family
Araliaceae
The Araliaceae are a family of flowering plants composed of about 43 genera and around 1500 species consisting of primarily woody plants and some herbaceous plants. The morphology of Araliaceae varies widely, but it is predominantly distinguisha ...
.
Description
Houpara is a
shrub or
tree
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...
up to 6 m tall, with stout branches. The leaves are crowded towards the tips of branchlets, and are 3- to 5-foliolate. Juvenile plants have larger leaves than adults. The
petioles are 5–15 cm long.
Distribution
Endemic to New Zealand, Houpara's natural range is coastal forest and scrub on the
Three Kings Islands
3 is a number, numeral, and glyph.
3, three, or III may also refer to:
* AD 3, the third year of the AD era
* 3 BC, the third year before the AD era
* March, the third month
Books
* '' Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 190 ...
and the
North Island
The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-larges ...
as far south as
Poverty Bay
Poverty Bay ( Māori: ''Tūranganui-a-Kiwa'') is the largest of several small bays on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island to the north of Hawke Bay. It stretches for from Young Nick's Head in the southwest to Tuaheni Point in the nor ...
(38°4′S).
Cultivation
Houpara is popular in New Zealand gardens, but is rare in cultivation elsewhere, requiring mild, moist conditions, without extremes of temperature in winter and summer. A number of cultivars have been developed, including 'Gold Splash' which has yellow variegated leaves, and 'Nigra' which has dark purple-brown foliage.
References
* Salmon J T, ''The Native Trees of New Zealand'',
AH & AW Reed Ltd, Wellington, New Zealand 1973
External links
*''Flora of New Zealand'', UR
''Pseudopanax lessonii'' Accessed 16 May 2007.
*''New Zealand Plant Conservation Network'', UR
''Pseudopanax lessonii'' Accessed 2010-10-04.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3850927
lessonii
Trees of New Zealand