5 - Special Southland Plants: Your Native Garden Starter Pack

New Zealand's native forests are unique. Eighty million years of evolution in isolation from other continents produced a special collection of plants and animals found no-where else in the world.  

The native forest remnants that remain are all important refuges for plants and native birds and help to give a New Zealand character to the landscape. Within New Zealand, regions have their own character and Southland is a special place to live.   You can plant native plants that tell some of the stories of Southland's and New Zealand's history.

Plants Special to Southland - Moa plants

Mingimingi (Coprosma propinqua) and Lancewood (Pseudopanax crassifolius)
Lancewood is one of many native trees that look different when they are young to the adult. The leaves of young lancewood are narrow and have sharp teeth.   One theory is that the young tree developed tough narrow leaves to prevent browsing by the now extinct giant moa.  Once the tree has grown above the height a moa could browse to the leaves change becoming fleshier and nicer to eat!

Many other native shrubs such as mingimingi have evolved to form bushes of wiry, tangly interlacing branches with small leaves. Often the leaves are hidden on the inside of the bush. This meant that the moa could not easily eat the leaves.

Unfortunately when sheep and deer were brought into New Zealand nobody realised the damage these creatures could do with their teeth.   Moa did not have any teeth and so just pulled off leaves with their beaks and did less damage to plants.  (See also the Southland Native Forest Restoration Factsheet).

Grasslands

Red tussock (Chionochloa rubra)
This magnificent flowing red grass was once very common throughout Southland.  It would have been a familiar sight on the Southland plains and hill country.  Now, it is rarely seen as the fertile ground on which it grew has been converted into green farm land. As a garden plant red tussock looks magnificent when mass planted or when creating wetlands it is in its ideal habitat.  It is one of the largest grasses in cultivation growing to a metre high.

Rivers of gold

South Island Kowhai (Sophora microphylla)
The kowhai is a well known tree that has bright yellow flowers in spring. The flowers contain a large amount of nectar in the flowers which makes them very popular with native birds, particularly tui and bellbird. Native pigeons eat kowhai leaves. Plant kowhai’s to attract native birds into your garden.

Maori used the kowhai to help determine when to plant kumara, i.e. when it flowered in the spring. The wood of the tree was used to make paddles and the head of axes as it was very sturdy. In Southland kowhai’s would have been found on the banks of almost every river and stream; that is where they prefer to live. The kowhai is famous for its bright yellow very hard seeds.

Because kowhai lived on riverbanks the seeds would drop into the water and float great distances before settling into sand and growing. To get kowhai seeds to grow you must soak them well in water first.

A Forest Giant

Hall’s totara (Podocarpus hallii)
Totara is a tall forest tree that can grow for up to 600 years. Some of the most important totara forests in New Zealand can be found in Southland growing on the sand dunes in the Otatara area. Totara is one of the few forest canopy species that can tolerate being planted out in open situations.

The generic name "Podocarpus" means seed with a foot referring to the seed being attached to a red fruit to attract birds. These fruits are a favoured food of the native pigeon. Maori used totara bark for covering houses and shelters and also for the outer covering for bags they kept muttonbirds in to bring them back from the islands.

References

• Department of Conservation (2000) Gunnera hamiltonii. Factsheet Southland Conservancy, December.
• Department of Conservation, Nelson-Malborough Conservancy and Nelson City Council (2003) Living Heritage: Growing Native Plants in Nelson.
• Fisher, M.E., Satchell, E. and Watkins, J.M. (1978) Gardening with New Zealand Plants Shrubs and Trees. Auckland:Collins.
• Hovell Environmental Planning (2003) Wetlands of Southland: A Guide for Maintaining and Enhancing the Values of our Wetland Areas.
• Invercargill City Council (2001) Otatara – Bushy Point Bushcare: A Guide to Enhancing Your Bush.
• Matsui, T. (2000) Historical Ecology of Totara Forest Remnants at Otatara and Sandy Point. Otatara Pigeon Post, December.
• Porteous, T. (1993) Native Forest Restoration: A practical guide for landowners. Wellington: Queen Elizabeth the Second National Trust.
• Rance, B.D. (2003) Personal Communication Department of Conservation Botanist: Red Tussock.
• Simpson, P. (2000) Dancing Leaves: the story of New Zealand’s cabbage tree, ti kouka. Christchurch: Canterbury University Press.
• Trees for Survival (2004) online: Cabbage Tree. http://www.treesforsurvival.org.nz/TREEINFO/cabbagetree.htm (as at 9 January 2004).
• Trees for Survival (2004) online: Kowhai. http://www.treesforsurvival.org.nz/TREEINFO/kowhai.htm (as at 9 January 2004).
• Wilson, H.D. (1982) Field Guide: Stewart Island Plants. Christchurch: Field Guide Publications.
• Wilson, H.D. and Galloway, T. (1993) Small-leaved Shrubs of New Zealand. Christchurch: Manuka Press.