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Pseudopanax lessonii 'Moas Toes' (Moa's Toes Lancewood) - A slow-growing, upright, evergreen dense foliaged shrub to 6 to 10 feet tall, with glossy and leathery, dark green three lobed palmate leaves with the elliptical shaped boldly toothed leaflets that are often flushed with purple and having colorful pale red veins often edged with yellow. Small and inconspicuous greenish white flowers are borne in lowers in irregular umbellules (compound secondary umbels) in summer.
Plant in full coastal sun to light shade in an area with well-drained soil and somewhat protected from wind. It is cold hardy to around 25° F and tolerant of near coastal conditions. This plant makes a nice specimen plant for a narrow and protected spot in the garden with interesting foliage.
The thick leaflets of this cultivar are likened to the toes of a Moa, the huge, extinct, and flightless bird that once roamed New Zealand. It is a selection of Pseudopanax lessonii, often called lancewood or Houmapara. Pseudopanax lessonii is found growing naturally in coastal scrub and forest throughout the North Island of New Zealand. The name for the genus comes from the combination of the Latin words 'pseudo' meaning "false" and 'panax', the early name for the ginseng plant and the specific epithet honors the French doctor, zoologist and botanist René Primevère Lesson (1794-1849) or his younger brother Pierre Adolphe Lesson (1805-1888) as both botanized and collected plants on voyages to New Zealand. This interesting plant came from Kiwi Flora and we received it from PlantHaven in 2018.
This information about Pseudopanax lessonii 'Moas Toes' displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.
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