Re: Metrosideros with golden new growth?

Doobieous wrote:
> 
> There is a plant that has what appear to be the right
> flowers of Metrosideros growing near an offramp onto
> the highway here. It gets no water except from rain,
> and it's growing among ice plant.
> 
> What's different is while the older leaves are the
> deep greenish gray of a usual metrosideros, it seems
> to have golden green new growth. It also seems to be
> flowering on one side of the plant. I'd like to get a
> photo soon, but i was wondering if this is actually
> metrosideros or another myrtaceous plant with similar
> flowers?
> 
 Barry 
Lots of natural reseeding of this tree occurs around the coast near
here, especilly on the cliffs round Wellington harbour. The variation
one sees is pretty wide and though I don't specifically rememeber seing
golden new foliage, I am sure this could easily occur. There are in
cutivation in NZ some forms with gold edged leaves, but that is of
course rather different.

The flowering on one side of the plant only makes me even more sure it
is the ordinary Metrosideros. Among the large variety of natural
seedlings here this is quite a common phenomenon, espcially on rather
young trees.

Last summer was partiularly good here for Metrosideros flowering and we
were astonished atthe range of flower size and density and in some cases
of depth of colour which we saw driving into Wellington around Christams
time.

We are right on the end of the climate range for this tree here and
while it grows so well at sea level at this latitiude, it is useless
even at the 300 ft altitude where our own  garden lies. It either dies
young in the heavier frosts we occasionally suffer or if it survives it
simply refuses to flower. Futher north is a diffent matter as it is
reliably native and a  a great feature of the countryside (though it
always most favours seaside localtions, especially liking particularly
to perch on cliffs just above the water..

Moira
-- 
Tony & Moira Ryan,
Wainuiomata, North Island, NZ.     Pictures of our garden at:-
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/cherie1/Garden/TonyandMoira/index.htm
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