Pseudowintera colorata (Raoul) Dandy

TSO logo

Sponsor this page

For information about how you could sponsor this page, see How You Can Help

Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Pseudowintera colorata' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/pseudowintera/pseudowintera-colorata/). Accessed 2024-03-29.

Synonyms

  • Drimys colorata Raoul
  • D. axillaris var. colorata (Raoul) Kirk

Infraspecifics

Other taxa in genus

    Glossary

    calyx
    (pl. calyces) Outer whorl of the perianth. Composed of several sepals.
    axillary
    Situated in an axil.
    entire
    With an unbroken margin.
    glabrous
    Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.
    glaucous
    Grey-blue often from superficial layer of wax (bloom).
    variety
    (var.) Taxonomic rank (varietas) grouping variants of a species with relatively minor differentiation in a few characters but occurring as recognisable populations. Often loosely used for rare minor variants more usefully ranked as forms.

    References

    There are no active references in this article.

    Credits

    Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

    Recommended citation
    'Pseudowintera colorata' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/pseudowintera/pseudowintera-colorata/). Accessed 2024-03-29.

    An evergreen glabrous shrub usually not more than 6 ft high in the wild and so far much smaller in cultivation, with an almost black bark. Leaves leathery, 34 to 212 in. long, 38 to 118 in. wide, elliptic to broadly so, or sometimes broadest above the middle, dull yellowish green above, blotched or margined with red or reddish purple, glaucous beneath. Flowers small, axillary, in clusters of two to four (sometimes more), each on a stalk about 38 in. long. Calyx cup-shaped, entire or shallowly lobed. Petals yellowish green, about 316 in. long. Carpels up to five in number, but only one or two maturing. Fruits black or dark red, about 316 in. across, with two or three seeds.

    Native of New Zealand, mainly in the South Island and Stewart Island. It is sometimes cultivated in the milder parts of the country for the curious variegation of its foliage, which gives it the appearance of a garden variety, though it is in fact a feature of all the wild plants. It is closely related to the following and sometimes treated as a variety of it:


    P axillaris (J. R. & G. Forst.) Dandy

    Synonyms
    Drimys axillaris J. R. & G. Forst

    This differs from P. colorata in its taller, often tree-like habit, and its larger leaves, dark green above and without the markings characteristic of D. colorata. It occurs on both the main islands of New Zealand.