Coprosma

Coprosma - Dwarf evergreen shrubs from New Zealand, best seen in shore and southern gardens, and most at home on a bold rock garden. The Coprosmas are widely distributed in New Zealand, some of the Pacific Islands, Chili, and elsewhere. Of the forty or more known species a few only have been introduced to cultivation in this country, those few being chiefly natives of New Zealand. They are too tender for general outdoor planting in the British Isles, although they thrive in the milder parts, and very few are grown indoors except in botanic collections of plants. As evergreens they are most useful, for they have little flower beauty, the blooms being very small, and not bright enough to make them conspicuous. When fruit is borne freely it has attractions, but fruit cannot be depended upon in this country. Given suitable climatic conditions, they are not difficult to cultivate, for they thrive in well-drained, loamy soil, to which a little peat or leaf-mould has been added. Cuttings inserted in a close and warm frame during summer root with little trouble, and soon form good plants.

Of the various species the following are most easily obtained:—

Related Flowers

Coprosma Arborea

Coprosma Arborea - A bush or small tree 20 to 30 feet high, with dark green or brownish-green leaves, each 1 to 3 inches long, and up to 1 1/2 inches wide. It is the Tree Karamee of the Maoris, and when grown in the open forms a wide, bushy head. When grown close together, however, tall, slender trunks with small heads are formed. The male and female flowers, borne by different plants, are in small, terminal heads, and are not showy. The berries are two-seeded and black when ripe. The wood is yellow, tough, and straight-grained, and is used for ornamental cabinet work.

Coprosma Baueri

Coprosma Baueri - One of the best for outdoor planting in the South of England, it forms a handsome evergreen, with glossy, oval, or oblong leaves, which are thick in texture, 2 to 3 inches long, and up to 2 1/2 inches wide. The flowers are of no consequence, but the orange-colored fruits are said to be attractive when produced freely. There are gold and silver variegated varieties worth planting. In New Zealand and the Norfolk Islands it grows from 12 to 25 feet high under favourable conditions, but when growing in exposed, rocky places it is often a prostrate shrub or low bush. Kirk, in the Forest Flora of New Zealand, says that there is a Maori legend connected with this species, which states that it originated from the paddles and skids of the canoe which landed the original Maori immigrants in the Bay of Plenty. The paddles and skids are said to have been stuck in the ground, and to have developed into a grove of trees, from which all the other trees of the same kind have originated. A plant at Maketu was standing a few years ago, and was pointed out as a direct descendant of one of the original trees grown at that point.

Coprosma Linearifolia, S

Coprosma Linearifolia, S - times called Yellow-wood, is a small tree up to 25 feet high, with narrow leaves up to 1 1/2 inches long. It is not such a fine evergreen as some of the other species, and cannot be said to be very ornamental.

Coprosma Lucida

Coprosma Lucida - s much in common with C. Baueri. Both it and C. Baueri are recommended for planting near the sea, even where washed by spray, violent winds and dashing spray being said to brighten the glossy surface of the leaves. They are planted as hedges in New Zealand, and are said to withstand clipping very well. A third bold-leaved species is C. robusta, which may be included with C. lucida and C. Baueri.

Coprosma Pendula

Coprosma Pendula - worth growing on account of its fine branchlets and semi-pendulous habit. The small, brownish-green leaves are rounded, and often less than half an inch across. It grows into a bush at least 8 feet high.

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