purple pseudopanax with dark wine-coloured foliage

Size
Height: 400–600 cm
Lifespan
50–100 years
Diet
Not applicable (tree)
Habitat
Lowland and montane forests, forest margins, and scrub. Prefers well-drained soils with partial shade. Tolerates moderate frost and wind.
Range
Found throughout New Zealand from Northland to Stewart Island in lowland and montane forests. Widespread in native forests.
Endemism
Endemic
Main Threats
Habitat loss from land clearance is the primary threat. Browsing by introduced mammals. No significant pest or disease issues.
Population
Populations are considered stable and widespread. The species is common in native forests throughout New Zealand. It is not considered threatened. No formal conservation assessment exists.
Conservation Status
Not Threatened
A striking shrub or small tree with deep purple-bronze foliage. A tree that hides in the shadows. Purple Pseudopanax stands out in the green forest like a splash of dark wine. The leaves are compound with five to seven leaflets, each one a deep, rich purple, almost black in the shadows. The colour is natural – a genetic variation, not a cultivated hybrid. A tree that is dark by nature. The dark colour contrasts beautifully with the green forest. In the understorey, where light is low, the purple leaves absorb what little light there is, turning the tree into a shadow. It is a tree that hides in plain sight. In summer, small, dark purple berries appear, eaten by birds. The flowers are small and inconspicuous, greenish-white, but the fruit is a favourite of the kererū. The birds eat the berries and spread the seeds through the forest. The wood is light and soft, used by Māori for small tools. The purple colour was noted as unusual, associated with certain atua (deities). The tree was also used medicinally. To see a Purple Pseudopanax is to see a tree of the understorey. It grows in the shadow of giants, waiting for a gap in the canopy. Its leaves are dark, its berries are purple, its trunk is slender. It is a tree of the middle, of the in-between, of the spaces where light filters through. The tree is popular in gardens for its dramatic colour. The forest understorey is dark. The purple pseudopanax waits in the shadows, dark leaves almost black, purple berries hidden. The kererū will come. The tree does not know it is dramatic. It does not know it is a shadow. It just wants to wait for a gap in the canopy. The dark one, the purple one, the tree that hides in the shadows. It has been here for millennia. It will be here as long as the forest keeps its understorey. The purple pseudopanax is proof.