Just by the boat ramp, the road takes a tight bend beneath a large and old pohutukawa tree. Here the leaves fall on the road and gradually get squashed into the warm and soft tar and gravel that seals the road. They look a lot like fossils.
Myoporum laetum Ngaio
Myoporum laetum Ngaio
A coastal shrub to 10m.tall. However, there are some forms that are prostrate.
The fruit is a purple ovoid drupe.
The flower of ngaio is campanulate (bell shaped), purple spotted, with small hairs that surround the floral tube. Note the purple spots on the petals.
The obvious pellucid glands on the leaf are a diagnostic feature of this coastal species.Leucopogon fasciculatus mingimingi
Leucopogon fasciculatus = Cyathodes fasiculatus
Family: Epacridaceae
Mingimingi is an open-branched, spreading shrub to 5–6 m tall, varying in habit according to exposure, with narrow leaves 1–2.5 cm long by 2–4 mm wide, arranged in bundles or whorls on slender black stems. Small flowers arise on drooping racemes or spikes in spring, each with 6–12 small creamy flowers. The small red or pink berries occur in strings in autumn, with one seed per berry. Mingimingi is a plant of coastal and lowland scrub or forest from the
The leaves may have between 3 and 7 linear nerves.
The berries turn red pink on maturation.jpg)
The small flowers with many tiny hairs.
Lobelia angulata
Lobelia angulata or Pratia angulata is flowering strongly. The small white dainty flowers are 5-merous with the petals united into an upperlip three- lobe and lower lipped two-lobe corolla that is split to its base. The berries are crimson red.
The plant forms a large ground hugging mat and prefers dappled light.
Manuka and Kanuka Flowers
Manuka Leptospermum scoparium and Kanuka Kunzea ericoides both produce a profusion of small flowers. Manuka flowers in spring while Kanuka flowers later, beginning its display in early summer. However, both are flowering around me at the moment.
Manuka has solitary flowers 8-25mm in diameter. Often the petals have a red tint. The stamens are shorter than the petals.
The flowers of kanuka are in clusters of between 8 and 20 and are between 4 and 8 mm in diameter. The many stamens are longer than the petals.
Phormium tenax spathe
I maintain flax is New Zealand's most iconic plant due to its cultural significance, large distribution and the beauty of it's foliage and flowers. Have you ever noticed the splendour of the spathe- the bract that protects the developing inflorescence?
Carmichaelia australis
The common New Zealand leafless broom with handsome seeds set in an open capsule- termed a replum.
The papilionate flowers are equally impressive.
This plant is perfect for pots on the balcony. I can vouch for it thriving on neglect!
Libertia peregrinans
This orange leaved native Iris exhibits attractive leaf shape and colour, with white flowers and orange fruits. It is a hardy ground-cover for all gardens. Note the three sepals below the three petals. Plants with flower parts in groups of three are termed trimerous.
OMG! Here comes the houseboat!
Charters are still available for Summer Holidays.
What better way to enjoy the beautiful Whangaroa Harbour than on the houseboat Maple Leaf
Lophomyrtus rohutu
Lophomyrtus bullata x obcordata
The cultivars of Lophomyrtus produce interesting and eyecatching flowers in early summer.
There are two species of Lophomyrtus, the New Zealand
myrtles.
Hybrids may exist,and horticultural selection has resulted in many named and unnamed varieties.
Both Lophomyrtus species are popular ornamentals due to their range of vibrant foliage,
attractive flowers and fruits, and hardiness.
Pohutukawa flower
There's so much botany going on here. The five red petals , five green stamens, both with the small hairs on the margins, the way in which the crimson stamens arise from the margin of the floral cup or hyapanthium, the single central style and the ant feeding on nectar. And it's New Zealand's favourite summer tree flowering at the minute. Pohutukawa. Good light, colour and composition
Fuchsia procumbens
The golden yellow floral tube with sharply reflexed sepals. Petals are absent in this coastal species. This Fuchsia scrambles through coastal gravels in northern New Zealand. It makes an ideal ground cover for all gardens. I love the contrasting blue pollen and red anthers.
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