akakura with orange tubular flowers for the tūī

Size
Height: 3–5 m
Lifespan
20–40 years
Diet
Herbivorous – absorbs nutrients through extensive root system. A fast-growing, light-demanding species that thrives in open, sunny locations. Prefers well-drained, fertile soils. Often found in regenerating forest, along forest margins, and in scrublands.
Habitat
Lowland forests, scrublands, and regenerating bush. Prefers open, sunny locations with well-drained, fertile soils. Often found along forest margins, in clearings, and in scrublands. A pioneer species that colonises open areas.
Range
Found throughout the North Island in lowland forests, scrublands, and regenerating bush. Most common in North Island (Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Wellington).
Endemism
Endemic
Main Threats
None significant – this species is common and widespread. Localised threats include habitat loss from land development, browsing by introduced mammals, and competition from invasive weeds.
Population
Akakura is a small, open shrub or tree with spectacular, tubular, bright orange flowers in spring and summer. The only member of the Gesneriaceae family native to New Zealand, often called the New Zealand gloxinia because of its resemblance to cultivated gloxinia. Flowers are rich in nectar and are pollinated by tūī and bellbirds.
Conservation Status
Not Threatened
The flame of the northern forest. Akakura has a flower so bright it seems to glow. At three to five metres in height, it is a small, open shrub or tree, with soft, green, slightly hairy leaves and a loose, spreading crown. The leaves are oval, toothed, and arranged opposite each other along the stems. They are soft and velvety, not tough like the leaves of the podocarps. The flowers are the story. Spectacular, tubular, bright orange, with a yellow throat and dark spots, appearing in spring and summer. The flowers are rich in nectar and are pollinated by tūī and bellbirds, which are attracted to the colour and the sweet reward. The fruit is a small, dry capsule that splits open to release tiny seeds. A tree of the open places. Akakura grows in lowland forests, scrublands, and regenerating bush, preferring open, sunny locations with well-drained, fertile soils. Often found along forest margins, in clearings, and in scrublands, colonising areas after disturbance. A fast-growing, light-demanding species, a pioneer that colonises open areas and regenerating forest. The only member of the Gesneriaceae family native to New Zealand. Its relatives are found in the tropics, and the species is a reminder of New Zealand ancient connections to the warmer, wetter forests of the past. To see an Akakura in full flower is to see a flash of orange in the green of the forest. A reminder that the New Zealand bush is not just green and brown, but full of colour, full of life, full of surprises. The flowers were sometimes used as a decoration, and the plant was also used in traditional medicine. Akakura was also associated with the atua (spirits) of the forest, and its presence was a sign of a healthy, regenerating bush, where the birds were thriving and the forest was recovering from disturbance.