pūriri

foliage palette: dark green

fruit & flower palette: pink

Vitex lucens | pūriri

Celebrated for its vibrant flowers, which come in shades of fluorescent pink, dark red, rose pink, and occasionally white. These tubular blooms appear in spring and are followed by red berries. Both the nectar-rich flowers and the berries are highly attractive to birds. This tree typically reaches a height of 10 meters and a width of 6 meters, showcasing dark, glossy green foliage. Puriri is a popular choice as a specimen tree, for revegetation projects, to draw in birdlife, or as an addition to mixed plantings in larger gardens.
The female pūriri moth, New Zealand's largest moth, boasts a wingspan of 15 centimeters. Its caterpillars begin life on the forest floor, spending approximately three months feeding on fungus within decaying wood. Afterward, they ascend a tree, bore through its bark on a trunk or branch, and conceal the entrance with a camouflaged web that blends with the bark. These caterpillars then reside within the tree for 2-3 years, feeding on the wood surrounding their entry point and creating vertical burrows.

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