Wednesday 29 May 2013

Wellington's flowering kohekohe trees

Kohekohe flowers
 The kohekohe is an unusual flowering tree. Maybe you can spot something unusual about the flowers.

Take a look at this photo of the trunk of the tree.
Yes you guessed it, kohekohe flowers come right out of the trunk or branches of the tree. There is a great word to describe this: 'cauliflory'.
 Here is a branch with seeds as well as flowers.
 Kohekohe flower in late autumn, early winter. They used to be very common on the coast of Wellington and Kapiti. There are still remnants of kohekohe forest in Porirua Scenic Reserve, Whareroa Farm, Hemi Matenga Reserve. Right now is a good time to see them flowering and Whareroa Farm has a Kohekohe open day this Sunday 2 June.