Hollard Gardens

Common name: tutae-kereru, tawhiwhi, poapoa tauhaua, kaihua, akakaikiore, akakiore

Family: Apocynaceae (Dogbane)

Life form: Climber

Comments: Habitat: Found in lowland forest and shrubland throughout the country. Most common near forest margins, but reaches the crowns of taller trees deeper in the forest by spreading from lower to higher levels in the forest canopy.The seedlings establish in sometimes quite shady places on the forest floor.
Habit: Stems up to 10 cm in diameter which attain heights up to 20 m above the ground. Seedlings reach about 45 cm in height without support and somewhat higher if two or more seedlings twine about each other. If no support is encountered then the stems bend down to the ground and grow along it until they find something to climb.
Foliage: Leaves are extremely variable. Very marked difference in size and shape between juvenile and adult leaves. First few leaves produced are small and almost circular. Second type of juvenile leaf is long and narrow with smooth or wavy margins. The adult leaves, which are formed when the stems reach full light, are much larger and broader and generally uniform in shape. Some of the seedlings are completely green, others are largely brown and some leaves of the latter are unusually attractive with a mosaic of green, dark brown and pale brown patches.