Native Plants Natural to the Canterbury Plains
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CANTERBURY Further information: Native plants Motukarara Conservation Nursery Waihora Domain, Motukarara, natural to RD 2, Christchurch 7672 PHONE: 03 329 7846 Canterbury EMAIL: [email protected] www.doc.govt.nz/ Plains conservationnursery www.doc.govt.nz Grown from seed collected from the Canterbury Plains Ecological District Cover photo: Kōwhai Published by: Department of Conservation Mahaanui/Sockburn Office PO Box 11089, Sockburn 8443 Christchurch, New Zealand Editing and design: DOC Creative Services Conservation House Wellington May 2021 This publication is produced using paper sourced from well-managed, renewable and legally logged forests. R194826 The history of the native vegetation of the Canterbury Plains R = rare Elaeocarpus hookerianus, pōkākā is one of sucession, destruction and regeneration. For many T = threatened Festuca novae-zelandiae, fescue grass millions of years prior to European settlement the patterns of Griselinia littoralis, pāpāuma, broadleaf native vegetation were defined by shifting rivers and creeks, Aciphylla subflabellata, kuri kuri, spear grass Helichrysum lanceolatum, niniao floods, shingle build-up, alluvial deposits, soil damage and fire. Anemanthele lessoniana (R), hunangāmoho, wind grass, Hypericum gramineum, rolled-leaf hypericum bamboo grass Kunzea serotina, kānuka The plant life varied between: Austroderia richardii, toetoe Leptinella filiformis(T) 1. Prostrate herbs and grasses on gravels. Brachyscome pinnata (T) Leptinella squalida 2. Tussocks and small shrubs on younger terraces. Carex buchananii, matirewa, cutty grass Leptospermum scoparium, mānuka, tea tree Carex comans, tussock grass Lophomyrtus obcordata, rōhutu, NZ myrtle 3. Woodland vegetation of kānuka, cabbage tree, olearia and Carex flagellifera, mānia, tussock grass Melicytus alpinus, porcupine shrub kōwhai on higher, older terraces. Carmichaelia grandiflora Muehlenbeckia astonii (T), shrubby tororaro 4. Dense woodlands of broad-leaf hardwoods such as karamū, Carmichaelia kirkii (T) Myrsine australis, māpou, matipou lancewood, Hoheria angustifolia, Lophomyrtus obcordata Clematis marata Myrsine divaricata, weeping māpou etc. on deeper soils. Coprosma areolata Olearia adenocarpa (T), scented tree-daisy 5. Podocarps on fingers of deep, moist soils. Coprosma crassifolia Ozothamnus leptophyllus, tauhinu, golden cottonwood Coprosma intertexta (R) Phormium tenax, harakeke, New Zealand flax Today’s landscape has suffered 150 years of intensive Coprosma lucida, shining karamū Pittosporum eugenioides, tarata, lemonwood manipulation, not only for economic reasons but also to Coprosma obconica (R/T) Pittosporum tenuifolium, kōhūhu transform it into one that is English in character. This has Coprosma sp. ‘Taylorii’ Plagianthus regius, mānatu, ribbonwood been achieved by the introduction of exotic trees, shrubs and Coprosma propinqua, mingimingi Poa cita, wī, silver tussock grasses, and grazing, drainage and cultivation of the land. Coprosma robusta, karamū Podocarpus totara, tōtara Coprosma rotundifolia, round-leaved coprosma Planting species represented in these display gardens will Pomaderris phylicifolia var. ericifolia (T), tauhinu eventually provide a link between the native remnants of the Coprosma rugosa Prumnopitys taxifolia, mataī, black pine Canterbury Plains, (kānuka forests of Eyrewell and Bankside Coprosma pedicellata (R/T) Raukaua anomalus, whauwhaupaku reserves), the foothills (beech forest of the Oxford-Ashley Coprosma virescens Sophora microphylla, kōwhai area) and the tall podocarp/hardwood forests of Riccarton Cordyline australis, tī kōuka, cabbage tree Sophora prostrata, dwarf kōwhai Bush in Christchurch and Port Hills reserves. Corokia cotoneaster, korokio, corokia Teucridium parvifolium (T) Higher, older terraces Open woodland vegetation Dense broadleaf hardwood Young terraces Tussocks and small shrubs Gravels Deeper soils Prostrate herbs and grasses Podocarps.