Grown from seed collected from Motukārara, Te Waihora and Canterbury native vegetation remnants.
The Christchurch natural vegetation pattern in pre-human times was diverse. Between the floodplains of the northern rivers, the estuary and coastal dunes in the east, and the loess-capped basalt of the Port Hills to the south there was a huge mosaic of open swampland, swamp forest, woodland and tussock grassland.
Riccarton Bush is a fine example of the tall podocarp/hardwood forest that once thrived on the poorly drained alluvial sediments of the Waimakariri River and its tributaries.
The species represented in this garden are a sample of the Christchurch wetlands, and river- and stream-margin plants. Other plant species appropriate to Christchurch can be found in our Coastal, Banks Peninsula and Canterbury Plains Gardens.
Consult the Motukārara Nursery catalogue or other recommended literature for the height and spread of species, environmental preferences and tolerances.
For the selection of the native plants natural to different areas of Christchurch, see the Ecosystem Maps of Christchurch published by Christchurch Otautahi Agenda 21 Committee or the Streamside Planting Guide, published by the Water Services Unit of the Christchurch City Council
Species name and common name
- Apodasmia similis oioi, jointed wire rush
- Austroderia richardii toetoe
- Baumea rubiginosa New Zealand sedge
- Bolboschoenus caldwellii purua, sedge
- Bulbinella angustifolia Māori onion
- Carex buchananii matirewa, cutty grass
- Carex flagellifera mānia, tussock grass
- Carex flaviformis pūrei, yellow sedge
- Carex geminata rautahi, cutty grass
- Carex maorica
- Carex secta pükio
- Carex solandri
- Carex virgata swamp sedge
- Coprosma propinqua mingimingi
- Coprosma robusta karamü
- Cordyline australis ti kōuka, cabbage tree
- Cyperus ustulatus toetoewhatu, giant umbrella sedge
- Dacrycarpus dacrydioides kahikatea, white pine
- Elaeocarpus hookerianus pōkākā
- Eleocharis acuta sharp spike sedge
- Hebe salicifolia koromiko
- Juncus caespiticius wī, grass-leaved rush
- Juncus gregiflorus wī, leafless rush
- Juncus pallidus wī, giant rush, leafless rush
- Juncus planifolius wī
- Juncus sarophorus wī
- Leptospermum scoparium mānuka, tea tree
- Lophomyrtus obcordata rōhutu, New Zealand myrtle
- Mazus novae-zelandiae subsp. impolitus mazus
- Phormium tenax harakeke, New Zealand flax
- Pittosporum tenuifolium kōhūhu
- Schoenoplectus pungens three square
- Schoenoplectus validus lake clubrush
- Schoenus pauciflorus
- Zotovia avenacea pātītī, bush rice grass