Botanical name:

Alseuosmia quercifolia

Common name(s):

Oak-leaved toropapa, toropapa, karapapa

About:

A shrub featuring glossy leaves that vary in lobation—occasionally long and slender—showing pale undersides and growing on reddish stems. Its soft pink, tubular flowers droop attractively, emit a sweet fragrance, and cluster at the leaf bases, contributing to its delicate allure.

Natural habitat:

Lowland forests (below 400m).

Growing environment:

Frost, Sun, Shade, Salt, Wetland, Wind & Coastal tolerant

Endemic distribution:

North Island only, from Te Paki to near Awakino in the west, and in the east present to about Thames and the lower Hauraki Plains, with a few old records from East Cape.

Height: 2.5m

Flowering:

September to October with a Cream or Red/Pink coloured flowers.

Fruiting:

March – May with small fleshy red fruit.

Uses:

Bird food / Attractant, Bee food & Forests.

How to grow:

Very easy from cuttings, slow growing but easy to maintain if kept in pots, but usualy tricky to plant out. Does best planted in partial shade in rich soil with a damp root run. However often prone to sudden collapse.