New Zealand native evergreen tree with one of the most extreme juvenile-adult foliage transitions in plant biology — long stiff toothed pendant juvenile leaves on a slender single stem, transforming around 15 years to a normally branched tree with short oval leaves.
Hardiness ratings
| System | Rating | Temperature range | How to read it |
|---|---|---|---|
| USDA hardiness zone | Zone 8–10 | −12.2 °C to 4.4 °C | Plant tolerates down to this zone |
| RHS hardiness rating | H4 | −10 °C to −5 °C | Plant needs at least this level of cold tolerance |
| Canadian plant hardiness zone | Zone 9 | −1 °C and warmer | Plant tolerates down to this zone |
| Australian (ANBG) zone | Zone 3–5 | −5 °C to 10 °C | Plant tolerates down to this zone |
About Lancewood
The lancewood is one of the most striking examples of heteroblasty — a plant whose juvenile and adult forms differ so completely that early botanists classified them as separate species. Young plants are a single unbranched stem with long, rigid, downward-pointing mottled leaves; mature trees carry a rounded crown of short, broad, unremarkable leaves. The leading explanation is defence against browsing by moa, the large flightless birds that were New Zealand's dominant herbivores until human arrival, with the plant changing form once it grew above their reach.
Growing notes
- Native to New Zealand — found throughout both main islands
- Extreme juvenile-adult foliage transformation is the defining feature — juvenile leaves are stiff, dark, toothed, pendant; adult leaves short, smooth, oval; theory holds the juvenile form was an evolutionary response to browsing by extinct giant moa
- Slender architectural form when juvenile — striking in modern landscape design
- Frost-tolerant to about -5 °C
Categories
Related plants
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