Hoheria glabrata low forest

Hoheria glabrata or mountain ribbonwood colonises young, deep, moist, well-drained and often stony soils such as those provided by slips, talus slopes and alluvial fans. This small tree, being one of the few in New Zealand that is strongly deciduous, has attractive yellow to red leaves in the autumn. Its clusters of white flowers, each up to 4 cm across, are also a striking feature. Olearia ilicifolia (the holly-leaved daisy tree) also contributes to the canopy and the ground beneath has a dense cover of the fern Polystichum vestitum.