Houmspara Moa’s Toes

A cultivar of the New Zealand native, Pseudopanax lessonii Moa's Toes is a medium-sized, borderline hardy, evergreen shrub with an upright, bushy habit, which makes a good specimen. The deep green leaves are flushed purple, and form three narrow, elliptical leaflets, like the toes of a moa, the huge, extinct, New Zealand flightless bird. Inconspicuous flowers are borne in summer. Houmspara Moa’s Toes needs moist soil when young, and is hardy in areas which get only a few degrees of frost, like urban gardens near the coast, but can be grown in a large container in soil-based compost with added sharp sand, and taken in for the winter. It needs minimal pruning – only prune if the branches get too long or congested, in late winter or early spring.