Elaeocarpus dentatus var. dentatus. Hinau
Elaeocarpus dentatus var. dentatus. Hinau
This is such a wonderful tree when in full flower with large conspicuous sprays of white deeply dissected flowers followed by large purplish fruit. It should be planted more.
Arnold Wall in his book The Botany Of Christchurch, (1935) identifies Hinau growing in Riccarton Bush and in the book Riccarton Bush: Putaringamotu (1995) edited by Brian Malloy indicates there are several trees there and Colin Meurk confirmed recently it still grows there. It is known as the southern most place where Hinau grows naturally.
It is endemic to the North and South Island as far South Westland in the west and Christchurch in the east.
A search on iNaturalist shows 11 records in Christchurch, including two in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens, 1 on the banks of the Waimakariri River (possibly in a private garden) and 1 at Lincoln University in their plant collection. One of those in Christchurch is in the University of Canterbury grounds outside the school of Forestry building which was probably planted by the Ministry of works from their nursery and grown from seed or cuttings from the tree in Riccarton Bush. (Pers. Comm. Michael Coulter). 8 records are in Riccarton Bush and several of those records maybe of the same tree as the GPS data on hones may not always be accurate.
There are no records of it on Banks Peninsula on iNaturalist. Further north it is a common tree of mainly coastal and lowland forest.
Having established it was here in Christchurch early and continues to grow in Riccarton Bush it is surprising that it has not been grown more and planted around the city and Banks Peninsula.
Described by some as New Zealand’s most spectacular tree it is very impressive in full flower in October, November and December and sometimes longer depending upon where it is growing. The flowers are borne on 10cm or more long racemes with between 8-12 flowers per stem. The 10mm white, deeply lobed, lacy flowers hang down (reminiscent of Pieris) and look brilliant. The fruit purple, oval and12-15mm long.
The leaves are great as well being 5-10cm long and average 3cm across with a strong midrib and domatia (pouches) along the midrib on the satiny underside of the leaf. It is rather slow growing and may take many years to flower. It likes good soil and will grow well in sun or semi shade. The wait is worth it.
Metcalf (1987), describes ways in which Maori used the fruit for food and bark for a dark blue/black die. Tane Trees Trust website describes the use of the timber by Maori and its use today.
This beautiful tree which should be more widely grown. It makes an excellent specimen tree and should be more widely used in street and public plantings. It is offered for sale but you will need to track it down. It also grows well from seed so some locally collected seed would be good to use.
Here in Christchurch I suggest planting it in association with other tall growing natives to give it a little shelter and encourage it to grow tall more quickly. There are existing public places and reserves and larger private gardens where this could easily be planted. Other sites may include some of the lower revegetating valleys along the Cashmere Hills and Banks Peninsula.
For more information on its timber go to
https://www.tanestrees.org.nz/species-profiles/hinau/
This is such a wonderful tree when in full flower with large conspicuous sprays of white deeply dissected flowers followed by large purplish fruit. It should be planted more.
Arnold Wall in his book The Botany Of Christchurch, (1935) identifies Hinau growing in Riccarton Bush and in the book Riccarton Bush: Putaringamotu (1995) edited by Brian Malloy indicates there are several trees there and Colin Meurk confirmed recently it still grows there. It is known as the southern most place where Hinau grows naturally.
It is endemic to the North and South Island as far South Westland in the west and Christchurch in the east.
A search on iNaturalist shows 11 records in Christchurch, including two in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens, 1 on the banks of the Waimakariri River (possibly in a private garden) and 1 at Lincoln University in their plant collection. One of those in Christchurch is in the University of Canterbury grounds outside the school of Forestry building which was probably planted by the Ministry of works from their nursery and grown from seed or cuttings from the tree in Riccarton Bush. (Pers. Comm. Michael Coulter). 8 records are in Riccarton Bush and several of those records maybe of the same tree as the GPS data on hones may not always be accurate.
There are no records of it on Banks Peninsula on iNaturalist. Further north it is a common tree of mainly coastal and lowland forest.
Having established it was here in Christchurch early and continues to grow in Riccarton Bush it is surprising that it has not been grown more and planted around the city and Banks Peninsula.
Described by some as New Zealand’s most spectacular tree it is very impressive in full flower in October, November and December and sometimes longer depending upon where it is growing. The flowers are borne on 10cm or more long racemes with between 8-12 flowers per stem. The 10mm white, deeply lobed, lacy flowers hang down (reminiscent of Pieris) and look brilliant. The fruit purple, oval and12-15mm long.
The leaves are great as well being 5-10cm long and average 3cm across with a strong midrib and domatia (pouches) along the midrib on the satiny underside of the leaf. It is rather slow growing and may take many years to flower. It likes good soil and will grow well in sun or semi shade. The wait is worth it.
Metcalf (1987), describes ways in which Maori used the fruit for food and bark for a dark blue/black die. Tane Trees Trust website describes the use of the timber by Maori and its use today.
This beautiful tree which should be more widely grown. It makes an excellent specimen tree and should be more widely used in street and public plantings. It is offered for sale but you will need to track it down. It also grows well from seed so some locally collected seed would be good to use.
Here in Christchurch I suggest planting it in association with other tall growing natives to give it a little shelter and encourage it to grow tall more quickly. There are existing public places and reserves and larger private gardens where this could easily be planted. Other sites may include some of the lower revegetating valleys along the Cashmere Hills and Banks Peninsula.
For more information on its timber go to
https://www.tanestrees.org.nz/species-profiles/hinau/