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You
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> Lowland> Tree fusia, Kotukutu
| Common
name: Tree fuchsia, Kotukutuku |
Botanical
name: Fuchsia excorticata |
| Family:
Onagraceae (Evening primrose family) |
Maximum
height: 14 metres |
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| Where found: |
- Sea level to 1060m
- Dark, damp places along streamsides, early regeneration species,
especially canopy gaps in wetter forests.
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| Description: |
- Tree, with suckering habit, sometimes a shrub. Fire resistant.
- Leaves are green on top and light silvery-green underneath.
Lance shaped, 5 to 10cm long, by 2.5 to 5cm wide, deciduous in
winter.
- Opening flowers are green shaded with purple turning purple
then deep red - 2 to 3.2cm long, usually solitary.
- Elongated berry (konini) is black when ripe during January-March.
Propagate by seed and cuttings.
- Distinctive red, papery, flaking outside bark with smooth, pale
yellowish-brown inner bark. Trunk up 60-80cm in diameter.
- Bird food (bellbird, kereru, silvereye).
- Tolerance: drought-low, frost-low as seedlings but moderate
tolerance as adults, wind-moderate, salt-low, waterlogging-moderate.
Environmental
Tolerances - key
- Highly palatable to possums.
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Click
on image for larger picture
PHOTO: DOC
PHOTO: Peter Winter
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