Flora of New Zealand Series

Densely hairy shrub to c. 3 m high (sometimes taller in cultivation). Shoot quadrangular, tomentose; angles often with reddish hairs. Petioles short, tomentose. Lamina 4.5-11 × 2-5 cm, ovate to almost elliptic, villous on both sides, greenish white beneath, 5-veined; marginal hairs usually reddish (except in shade); apex acute. Bracts large, ovate, almost villous. Calyx c. 2 cm long, ± hispid with hairs often reddish; lobes 6-8 mm long, lanceolate. Petals 2.5-3.5 cm long, purple, obovate. Stamens very unequal; filaments mauve; anthers c. 1.5 cm long, slender and curved, purple, ± crimped. Style c. 3 cm long, shining crimson-mauve. Capsule 10-12 mm long, urceolate, hispid, with apex irregularly toothed.

N.: Tekopuru and near Waipoua State Forest (N. Auckland), Auckland City; K.: Denham Bay (Raoul).

S. Brazil 1977

Around old abandoned gardens and roadside plantings, only a minor escape from cultivation.

T. urvilleana is commonly grown for its very showy fls. Wild plants have almost certainly spread vegetatively because, although capsules may form, they rarely if ever contain viable seed. The sp. has previously been known in N.Z. as T. semidecandra but this is a distinct sp. which is not in N.Z.

The larger-flowered and less hairy T. organensis Cogn. is also very commonly cultivated, but has not been reported wild although it often produces seed.