Plant of the Month - May
Halls totara is a common sight in Otatara. However the totara forest on sand dunes at Otatara are nationally significant being a rare forest type now in New Zealand. Totara are fruiting very well at the moment - Totara is a “podocarp” (like rimu and kahikatea), meaning it has a seed with a foot - the seed is attached to the fruit, not inside it. The seed itself stays green unlike most seeds that change colour when ripe.
The best places to see totara forest is Kilmock Bush and other Sandy Point forests. It has a distinctively bare understory, grows on sandy dry soils and often develops interesting twisted multi stemmed trunk shapes. Totara is one of the few large trees able to be planted in the early stages of a restoration project, it survives wind and full sun but dislikes wet ground.
Posted: 5 May 2011