Wisteria sinensis
Chinese wisteria (ex seed) Ht 5-10m
Vigorous climber, twining anti-clockwise, deciduous. Will climb into a tree and can be trained on a pergola or fence. Fragrant mauve flowers in long racemes before the leaves.
Group trees and shrubs:
Yes
Categories:
- Climber
- Deciduous
- Tolerates dry sites
- Attractive autumn colours - yellow
- Attractive flowers or catkins
- Attractive berries fruits or cone
- Attracts bees
Tilia platyphyllos
Broad-leaved lime Ht 25-40m
Europe & S W Asia. Broadly columnar, branches spread upwards at wide angles, deciduous. Reddish-brown young stems Leaves larger than T. cordata, white downy hairs on the underside, turn yellow in autumn, petioles pubescent. Flowers fragrant yellowish-white, & fruits, hang below the bract. Pollinated by bees. Fruit is a fat round hairy woody shell with 3-5 woody ridges containing 1 brown seed. Popular avenue tree with dense shade. Tolerates limestone soils.
Group trees and shrubs:
Yes
Categories:
- Large tree
- Deciduous
- Attractive autumn colours - yellow
- Attractive flowers or catkins
- Attractive berries fruits or cone
- Attracts bees
Tilia x europaea
Common lime (Linden) Ht 25-45m
Broadly columnar, deciduous. A natural hybrid between Tilia cordata and T.platyphyllos, common throughout NZ. The base of the trunk often with burrs and a mass of basal shoots. Leaves intermediate in size between the parents, thinly hairy with tufts of dense hairs in the underside leaf veins axils. Heavy aphid populations deposit honeydew on everything beneath. Small yellow-white flowers honey-scented hang from a bract.
Oval seeds are hairy, faintly ribbed and dry brown.
Group trees and shrubs:
Yes
Categories:
- Medium tree
- Deciduous
- Attractive autumn colours - yellow
- Attractive flowers or catkins
- Attracts bees
Tilia cordata
Small-leaved lime Ht 20-30m
Europe and W Asia. Densely branched pyramidical crown , deciduous. Red bud scales. Heart shaped leaves turn yellow in autumn, mostly hairless except for small tufrs of brown hairs on the underside leaf axils. Scented yellow-green erect flowers held above the bract, attract bees, valuable honey. Fruits round, thin-shelled smooth unribbed 1 -2 seeded. Tolerates limestone soils.
Group trees and shrubs:
Yes
Categories:
- Large tree
- Deciduous
- Attractive autumn colours - yellow
- Attractive flowers or catkins
- Attractive berries fruits or cone
- Attracts bees
- Tolerates limestone soils
Styrax obassia
Fragrant snowbell tree Ht 5-10m
Japan. Broadly columnar, deciduous. Large fairly round leaves, fragrant white flowers in 20cm long racemes. Similar fruits to S. japonica though fewer produced. Enjoys a damp site.
Group trees and shrubs:
Yes
Categories:
- Small Tree
- Deciduous
- Tolerates wet sites
- Attractive autumn colours - yellow
- Attractive flowers or catkins
- Attractive to birds
- Attractive berries fruits or cone
- Attracts bees
Styrax japonicus
Japanese snowbell tree Ht 5-10m
Erect trunk, pyramidal form and horizontal branches. Deciduous. In Spring masses of white bell shaped flowers hang under the branches, a stunning sight. Oval grey-green fruits hang until Autumn when ducks and Pheasants eat them. Enjoys a damp site.
Group trees and shrubs:
Yes
Categories:
- Small Tree
- Deciduous
- Tolerates wet sites
- Attractive autumn colours - yellow
- Attractive flowers or catkins
- Attractive to birds
- Attractive berries fruits or cone
- Attracts bees
Sorbus aucuparia
Rowan Ht 5-15m
European mountain ash. Broadly conical deciduous. Leaves pinnate turning orange in colder areas. White flowers in clusters then red berries. Suited to colder areas. Berries rich in vitamin C for jelly and herbal remedies.
Group trees and shrubs:
Yes
Categories:
- Small Tree
- Deciduous
- Tolerates exposed sites
- Tolerates dry sites
- Attractive autumn colours - red
- Attractive flowers or catkins
- Attractive to birds
- Attractive berries fruits or cone
- Attracts bees
- Edible fruits and seeds
Sophora tetraptera (PLUG grown)
Kowhai - North Island Ht 5-15m
Endemic to the East of North Island, now widely planted. Branches spreading sometimes pendulous. Branchlets clad in a golden yellow or grey tomentum. Leaves 100-150mm with 10-20 pairs of grey-green leaflets well spaced, never crowded or overlapping, densely clad in silky straight appressed hairs. Up to 10 flowers in a bunch Sept.-Dec., nectar attracting tuis , bellbirds and bees. The wood is very hard and durable.
Group trees and shrubs:
No
Categories:
- Small Tree
- NZ native
- Evergreen
- Attractive flowers or catkins
- Attractive to birds
- Attractive berries fruits or cone
- Attracts bees
- Container Grown
Sophora prostrata (PLUG grown)
Kowhai - South Island mountain Ht 1-2m
Endemic to dry stoney Eastern South Island sites. A small dense bush to 2m tall, zig-zaggy branches 25mm long leaves, leaflets 4mm long, drooping orange-yellow flowers in spring, 5cm nobbly pods with hard brown to almost black seeds.
Juveniles & adults similar. Useful for bonsai.
Group trees and shrubs:
No
Categories:
- Shrub
- Evergreen
- Tolerates exposed sites
- Tolerates dry sites
- Attractive flowers or catkins
- Attractive to birds
- Attractive berries fruits or cone
- Attracts bees
- Container Grown
Sophora microphylla (PLUG grown)
Kowhai - South Island Ht 5-25m
Can grow to 25m usually a single trunk, branches weeping and spreading. Adult leaflets 30-50, not crowded or overlapping, of similar size, with an obvious petiolule, moderately to sparcely hairy, hairs straight and appressed. Leaves >30mm, leaflet pairs >6. Juveniles divaricating and interlacing branching. Can be deciduous in a cold climate. To 7 Yellow flowers in a bunch in Spring attract tuis and bellbirds, pigeons feed on the leaves.
Group trees and shrubs:
No
Categories:
- Small Tree
- NZ native
- Evergreen
- Tolerates wet sites
- Tolerates exposed sites
- Tolerates dry sites
- Attractive flowers or catkins
- Attractive to birds
- Attractive berries fruits or cone
- Attracts bees
- Erosion control
- Container Grown
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