Knightia excelsa

Knightia exselsa, known as Rewarewa in Maori dialect, is part of those slightly strange groups of plants that come from the antipodal cells. While it forms a majestic tree in its native forests of New Zealand, it will have more modest dimensions in our latitudes, while maintaining its superb narrowly columnar habit. This little known plant has elegant and dense evergreen foliage, red velvet young shoots and unusual summer flowers in red-brown brushes.  Easier to grow than its protea cousins, it is advisable to plant this in our mildest coastal regions as its resistance to cold is limited. Elegant and fascinating, it looks splendid in an exotic garden in the company of Leptospermum or mimosas.

Knightia exselsa is a tree from the proteaceae family originating from the North and South New Zealand islands (Marlborough Sounds region).  It can be found in low altitude forests and valleys reaching up to nearly 30 m (98 ft 5 in) in height,.  It is a useful plant of humid and very mild coastal climates and non-calcareous humus-rich soils. This Knightia is evergreen, it keeps its leaves all year round. It is resistant to temperatures as low as -5 to -7°C (23 to 19.4 °F) and requires free draining soil.

In our latitudes, with optimal growing conditions, this small tree will hardly exceed 5-6 m (16 ft 5 in-19 ft 8 in) in height and 1 to 2 m (3 ft 4 in to 6 ft 7 in) in width. The ascending trunk and branches are covered with a somewhat irregular brown to grey bark. The young shoots are covered with a reddish down. The juvenile leaves are linear to lanceolate in shape, wide, but tapered at both ends with dentate edges.  Leaves measure up to 30 cm (11.8 in) in length and are yellow-green in colour. Leaves that develop on older branches are shorter, about 15 cm (5.9 in) long, narrowly oblong and coarsely dentate. The foliage is tough, very shiny on top and dark green in colour. Flowering takes place in July-August in favourable climates. It takes the form of inflorescences, 10 cm (3.9 in) long, carrying up to 80 elongated and tubular, villous, brown-red floral buds. Each bud opens to a rather dark red flower that spirals with all the flowers intertwining with each other at the base of the inflorescence. The spiralled flower reveals a long pink pistil tipped with green. These flowers, rich in nectar, attract many pollinating insects. The fruit is woody and look like pods measuring up to 4 cm (1.6 in) long.  These will open into two halves to release winged seeds that will wind disperse in the wind. 

With its prehistoric appearance, Knightia exselsa will tempt fans of exotic and unusual plants who garden in a mild climate. It works well as a specimen plant which allows you to admire the elegance of its silhouette all year round. With striking features, it is quite difficult to associate with other plants, although it can accompany for example Banksia integrifolia, Chilean fire tree or a large grevillea. It will grow well in light soils and also sheltered coastal gardens that are spared from heavy frosts. Always plant where there is plenty of space, in full sun.