One of New Zealand’s finest native trees for shelter, restoration, and larger gardens, Tarata is a fast-growing evergreen with fresh green foliage and beautifully fragrant yellow flowers. The leaves release a distinctive lemon scent when crushed, giving rise to the common name Lemonwood, while its dense growth makes it particularly useful for screening and native hedging.
🌱 Plant Facts
• Growth habit: Fast-growing evergreen tree with a dense, spreading crown
• Foliage: Light green, oval leaves with wavy margins and a contrasting pale central vein
• Scent: Leaves release a pleasant lemon-like fragrance when crushed
• Flowers: Dense clusters of small, fragrant yellow flowers
• Flowering: October–December
• Fruit: Small pointed capsules, approximately 5–6 mm long, splitting open to reveal sticky black seeds
• Fruiting: October–January
• Height: Up to 12 m
🌍 Natural Habitat
• Coastal to montane environments
• Regenerating native forest
• Mature native forest
• Forest margins and clearings
• Common in secondary forest and regenerating bush
🌿 Growing Environment
• Full sun to partial shade
• Frost tolerant
• Wind tolerant
• Free-draining soils
• Adaptable to a range of soil conditions
Tarata establishes readily in open sites and is particularly valuable where a relatively fast-growing native tree is required for shelter, revegetation, or the establishment of a future forest canopy.
📍 Endemic Distribution
• Endemic to New Zealand
• Common and widespread throughout the North and South Islands
🌾 Uses
• Native bird food and attractant
• Bee and pollinator food
• Hedging and screening
• Shelter planting
• Riparian plantings
• Pioneer plantings
• Native forest restoration
• Feature and specimen tree
🪴 Cultivation Notes (Live Plant)
A hardy and relatively fast-growing native tree that is easy to establish in a wide range of garden and restoration situations. Tarata responds well to trimming when young and can be maintained as a dense hedge or screen, while unpruned plants develop into attractive specimen trees. Its rapid establishment, fragrant flowers, fresh green foliage, and wildlife value make it particularly useful for revegetation and biodiversity plantings.
📏 Approximate product size:
• PB3/4 (5–20 cm, 350 ml)
• PB3 (20–70 cm, 1.5 L)
• PB8 (50 cm+, 3.5 L)
• PB18 (1 m+, 8.5 L)
• PB40 (2 m+, 18.5 L)
⏱️ Timeframe:
We ship Monday – Wednesday for South Island customers and Monday/Tuesday for Rural and North Island customers. Orders placed outside these days will be fulfilled the following week.
📦 Local pick ups and/or deliveries will be made by arrangement.
🌱 We’ll donate $1 per plant sold to national conservation efforts, helping to protect and restore New Zealand’s natural heritage.
One of New Zealand’s finest native trees for shelter, restoration, and larger gardens, Tarata is a fast-growing evergreen with fresh green foliage and beautifully fragrant yellow flowers. The leaves release a distinctive lemon scent when crushed, giving rise to the common name Lemonwood, while its dense growth makes it particularly useful for screening and native hedging.
🌱 Plant Facts
• Growth habit: Fast-growing evergreen tree with a dense, spreading crown
• Foliage: Light green, oval leaves with wavy margins and a contrasting pale central vein
• Scent: Leaves release a pleasant lemon-like fragrance when crushed
• Flowers: Dense clusters of small, fragrant yellow flowers
• Flowering: October–December
• Fruit: Small pointed capsules, approximately 5–6 mm long, splitting open to reveal sticky black seeds
• Fruiting: October–January
• Height: Up to 12 m
🌍 Natural Habitat
• Coastal to montane environments
• Regenerating native forest
• Mature native forest
• Forest margins and clearings
• Common in secondary forest and regenerating bush
🌿 Growing Environment
• Full sun to partial shade
• Frost tolerant
• Wind tolerant
• Free-draining soils
• Adaptable to a range of soil conditions
Tarata establishes readily in open sites and is particularly valuable where a relatively fast-growing native tree is required for shelter, revegetation, or the establishment of a future forest canopy.
📍 Endemic Distribution
• Endemic to New Zealand
• Common and widespread throughout the North and South Islands
🌾 Uses
• Native bird food and attractant
• Bee and pollinator food
• Hedging and screening
• Shelter planting
• Riparian plantings
• Pioneer plantings
• Native forest restoration
• Feature and specimen tree
🪴 Cultivation Notes (Live Plant)
A hardy and relatively fast-growing native tree that is easy to establish in a wide range of garden and restoration situations. Tarata responds well to trimming when young and can be maintained as a dense hedge or screen, while unpruned plants develop into attractive specimen trees. Its rapid establishment, fragrant flowers, fresh green foliage, and wildlife value make it particularly useful for revegetation and biodiversity plantings.
📏 Approximate product size:
• PB3/4 (5–20 cm, 350 ml)
• PB3 (20–70 cm, 1.5 L)
• PB8 (50 cm+, 3.5 L)
• PB18 (1 m+, 8.5 L)
• PB40 (2 m+, 18.5 L)
⏱️ Timeframe:
We ship Monday – Wednesday for South Island customers and Monday/Tuesday for Rural and North Island customers. Orders placed outside these days will be fulfilled the following week.
📦 Local pick ups and/or deliveries will be made by arrangement.
🌱 We’ll donate $1 per plant sold to national conservation efforts, helping to protect and restore New Zealand’s natural heritage.
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