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Pseudowintera colorata
Pseudowintera colorata


 
Family:  Winteraceae
Hardiness:  to Zone 8b
Mature Size:  6'
Exposure:  Full to Part Sun
Moisture Needs:  Average to Moist
Price: $15.00
Pot Size: 4" Pot

Stock Status:(Out of Stock)
Product Code: P3096
Qty:

Description
 
Horopito.  Pepperwood.  An intriguing slow-growing evergreen shrub from New Zealand's South Island.  This is closely related to Drimys and is in the same family Winteraceae.  The leaves are richly colored to varying degrees of reddish washing, edging and mottling and seem somehow improbable as there is really nothing else quite like it.  The leaves, in addition to great colorata, are very peppery to the taste and packed full of antifungals and the whole plant was used extensively by the Maori including treatment of venereal disease.  Never hurts to have options.  It is a very primitive plant and the small, simple, creamy flowers are borne directly on the older branches.  This prefers a milder site and a good rule of thumb might be if you succeed with big-leaf rhododendrons or other New Zealanders, than this should be part of the mix.  We saw this thriving at Inverewe on Scotland's northern west coast and were jealous of the Gulf Stream.