Australian Native Plants in New Zealand

 Vera and Viv (indigenous Australian on his mother's side) 

beside the ancient totara in Montgomery Reserve, Banks Peninsula.

It's Australia Day, and I am taking a look at the indigenous on both sides of the Tasman. A very, very long time ago, before human beings existed, New Zealand and Australia were part of the same land mass, and shared the same flora. In Central Otago, on the banks of the Kawerau River, I have been shown fossil remnants of leaves which look very like the leaves of the casuarina trees which grow in Australia today. They were hiding in ancient sedimentary rocks, and that is probably where most of the plants species that New Zealand and Australia once shared still are today. However, we do still have some shared species, and quite a number of shared genera.

Among the former are the akeake, Dodonea viscosa (which has a very wide international distribution), some species of Pomaderris, and manuka (Leptospermum scoparium). The latter includes some very desirable trees, grasses and perennial plants. The Myoporum genus, which includes the NZ ngaio, Myoporum laetum, has a lot of Australian members, of which the common boobialla, Myoporum insulare, has somehow found its way to New Zealand. It has even been planted in public places (e.g. the beach front at Corsair Bay, Lyttelton Harbour), presumably in the mistaken belief that it was ngaio. Other Australian genera which are found here and may be easily confused with (and planted in mistake for) native plants include other Leptospermums, Sophora spp (the kowhai genus), Pittosporum spp., and tree ferns.

Sometimes, though, we might want to plant the Australian version of a native genus because it has particular attractions, such as Tasmanian 'blueberry' or 'flax lily', Dianella tasmanica, whose iridescent blue berries are much larger and more striking than those of our native turutu, D. intermedia. Similarly, some Australian members of the Wahlenbergia genus, such as W. gloriosa, have much larger and brighter flowers than the NZ species. The Australian beech trees (Nothofagus spp) are just as attractive as the NZ species, and one of them (N. gunnii) is a very desirable small deciduous tree.

In planning a garden which is 'native-friendly' a New Zealander might even want to include Australian plants which have only distant cousins in Aotearoa. Excellent choices in this regard are the nectar-producing members of the Myrtaceae family (which includes pohutakawa, rata and manuka) and all the Eucalyptus genus under its big leafy umbrella. These plants provide excellent sustenance for our nectar-feeding birds, such as bellbirds and tui, as do other Australian nectar-producing plants such as banskias, grevillias and bottlebrushes. For this reason I have kept on a bottlebrush bush in my garden, even though it is old and looks manky most of the year, because it is popular with bellbirds when it flowers. For the same reason I have planted one of the most attractive flowering gum trees, E. leucoxylon 'Rosea', as it provides nectar in late winter and early spring, when nectar from NZ native trees is in short supply.

Native plants from both sides of the Tasman can exist happily together in the Kiwi garden – but it helps to know their whakapapa to choose the right plant for the right reason.

Eucalyptus leucoxylon 'Rosea' 

in flower, late August 2010