Pukeiti

Family: Ericaceae (Heath)

Distribution: Himalaya (east) to Nepal

Habitat: Dense forest thickets, coniferous forests 3000-3700m

IUCN Red list: Least concern

Life form: Tree - evergreen

Comments: Habit: Often a tall columnar tree up to 15m tall in the wild but in clutivation it forms a large round topped shrub or tree.
Foliage: Leaves are matt dark green above with indented veins. Young leaves are covered with silvery-buff hairs initially but this is quickly lost on the upper surfaces. The undersides are covered with a thick undumentum of rust to dark brown hairs over a thin layer of whitish hairs. Young leaves can be up to 35cm x 17cm, shaped like big paddles but they reduce to about half that size with age.
Flowers: Creamy white to deep yellow, often flushed pink or with a pink to crimson blotch at the base. Flowers October - November in the southern hemisphere and flowers are long lasting, up to about a month on the tree.
History: First described by Sir Joseph Hooker in 1849 from Sikkim, India. Some of the plants from the original collection are still alive in Scottish gardens today - they are very long lived in cultivation.
Cultivation: Needs shelter from cold winds and severe frosts.
Foliage: Wonderful large foliage, with tan to rufous wool indumentum below.
Flowers: Long lasting creamy yellow umbels of fine flowers.