Flamboyant Natives - taurepo & hihi

Would you like to attract native birds to your garden?

Then taurepo is the plant for you! Tūī, bellbird, and stitchbirds are all attracted to its nectar and play a crucial role in its pollination.

The Rhabdothamnus genus is exclusive to New Zealand and consists of just one species - Rhabdothamnus solandri, also known as New Zealand gloxinia, taurepo, mātātā and waiū-atua.

Rhabdothamnus solandri, coastal forest - Coromandel Peninsula. Photo by L. Benson.

An attractive multi-branched shrub, it is ideal for well-draining and fertile soils in semi-shade. In the wilderness, it serves as an under-shrub (growing to 2m height) in coastal and lowland forests, thriving especially on stream banks.

Its nodding, delicate flowers come in shades of orange-red, orange with red veins, and yellow with red venation, leaving a lasting impression once witnessed! Flowering on and off throughout the year, this unique native shrub from New Zealand reaches its peak bloom from October to February.

The foliage has a similar appearance to Carpodetus serratus (putaputawētā) or even the Fuscospora genus of native beech trees and is loosely arranged on slender stems. Both stems and leaves are covered in fine hairs called trichomes that provide additional defence against salt spray and wind.

This shrub makes a valuable addition to any garden, where the right conditions for growth already exist or can be achieved through thoughtful intervention.

King, Martha, 1803?-1897:[ Rhabdothamnus solandri or New Zealand gloxinia] Folio C No.16[1842]. Ref:A-005-016. ALEXANDER TURNBULL Library, Wellington, New Zealand./records/23145663

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One of New Zealand's rarest endemic birds, and taurepo's pollinator - the stitchbird, hihi.

Illustrated by John Gerrard Keulemans (1842-1912): Dutch bird illustrator. From A history of birds of New Zealand,2nd edition, By sir Walter Lawry Buller (1838-1906)