Cook Strait kōwhai

Sophora molloyi | Cook Strait kōwhai, Molloy’s kōwhai

An attractive, smaller kōwhai with a bushy green form and long, slender pinnate leaves. Famed for its uniquely beautiful, bell-shaped flowers that appear in early winter and again in spring, it brings distinctive character to a garden. This semi-deciduous (depending on winter severity) small tree naturally occurs in coastal scrub on exposed maritime sites. It can grow as a bushy, spreading tree up to 6 meters tall and 4 meters wide. It produces pendulous clusters of golden-yellow flowers attracting nectar-seeking birds. A dense, widely spreading, cold and wind-tolerant grower, often used in native and revegetation plantings, for winter color, as a backdrop, in coastal gardens, or clipped as a hedge. Its prolific deep yellow flowers can sometimes be almost hidden within the foliage in winter, making it a great border plant for both textural contrast and blooms.