Streblus banksii in Northern Rodney

The trees can grow to 12 metres tall. The leaves range in size from 3.5 – 8.5 cm x 2 – 3.5 cm and have crenate margins. When held up to the light the reticulated veins are very obvious. Juvenile plants can have deeply lobed, or “fiddle leaves”, similar to those seen on S. heterophyllus, but they don’t pass through a twiggy shrub stage. For some years I have been aware of a sapling of S. banksii growing beside the Ecology Trail at Tawharanui Regional Park. Spurred on by DOC and ARC, I recently relocated this tree which had a spray or two of the tiny, insignificant female flowers common to the genus. Park staff have since searched for, and found, seedlings growing in the bush. Because of the interest shown in this plant I referred to the herbarium held at the Warkworth & Districts Museum, and there I found specimens collected from three more sites in the district. One of these was from a single tree growing near Wilson Road, Wayby, Wellsford, and another was from a juvenile plant growing on the summit of Atuanui (Mt Auckland).