Chatham Island Christmas Tree

Botanical name: Brachyglottis huntii
Synonyms: Senecio huntii
Common name(s): Rautini, Chatham Island Christmas Tree

About:
Large spreading grey-green shrub or small tree of the Chatham Islands with aromatic resinous foliage, flaky bark, and masses of bright yellow daisy flowers.

Natural habitat:
Peatland shrublands, swamp margins, stream and river edges, ridge crests, disturbed forest margins, and early successional wetland habitats.

Growing environment:
Wind tolerant, Moist soil tolerant, Peat soil tolerant, Coastal tolerant, Frost tolerant, Semi-shade tolerant.

Endemic distribution:
Endemic to the Chatham Islands, occurring on both Chatham Island and Pitt Island.

Height:
Typically up to 6 m tall and wide

Width:
Approximately 4–6 m wide

Flowering:
Spring–Summer (November–February)

Fruiting:
Late summer–Autumn

Uses:

• Native wetland restoration
• Shelter and revegetation plantings
• Chatham Islands native collections
• Ornamental specimen tree
• Wildlife habitat plantings

Appearance:

Growth habit:
Fast-growing aromatic shrub or small tree with stout spreading branches, brittle twigs, and persistent dead leaves clustered near branch tips.

Leaves:
Grey-green ovate to elliptic-lanceolate leaves with slightly rolled or wavy margins. Young leaves densely covered in rusty-brown tomentum and resinous, becoming smoother and shinier with age.

Flowers:
Large terminal clusters of bright yellow daisy-like flowers with broad recurving petals and woolly involucral bracts.

Fruit:
Small narrow grooved cypselae topped with fine off-white barbellate pappus hairs aiding wind dispersal.

Ecology:
A disturbance-adapted species favouring moist peaty soils and open conditions. Often colonises stream margins, slips, swamp edges, and regenerating shrublands.

Associated habitats:
Commonly associated with peat bogs, restiad wetlands, swamp forest margins, shrublands, and open disturbed Chatham Island habitats.

How to grow:
Best grown in permanently moist, deep peaty soil in a semi-shaded or cool sheltered position. Does not tolerate prolonged drought, heavy shade, or root disturbance after planting.

Propagation:
Easily grown from fresh seed or semi-hardwood cuttings. Fast growing in suitable conditions and may flower within 1–2 years from seed.

Threats:
Threatened by habitat destruction, grazing and trampling by stock, browsing by possums and pigs, and susceptibility to soil-borne diseases including phytophthora, verticillium, and fusarium wilt.

Cultural significance:
An iconic shrub of the Chatham Islands peatland ecosystems and an important species in local ecological restoration efforts.

Garden value:
A striking fast-growing native shrub valued for its silver-grey foliage, aromatic leaves, flaky bark, and abundant bright yellow flowers which often appear around the Christmas period.