Leptospermum Scoparium is a native tree of New Zealand. Its indigenous or “Maori name is Manuka” and it is widely distributed throughout the country in various forms. It is one of the most adaptable trees you will ever come across growing in such contrasting conditions such as the Coast and up to 1000m, in swamps and on hard dry hillsides, it even grows in the mud and hot water in and around geothermal areas.

Manuka is a nursery tree and often forms large areas that protect regenerating forest seedlings and form a shelter for native orchids and other small plants.

Manuka grows either as a shrub or as a tree up to 4m high with spreading branches. The branches and young leaves are covered with whitish silky hair and are romatic when crushed.

The delicate white and pink flowers can cover the tree such that it appears to have snowed.

The bark is stringy and peels in long flakes. Manuka wood is red coloured, hard and durable. It has been used for fencing, for tool handles and is much prized as a firewood burning with fierce heat.

Click here for information on TRADITIONAL USES OF MANUKA: