Wikimedia Commons
Fabaceae
Kowhai
Sophora microphylla
New Zealand, gold of spring, native pride.
- Family
- Fabaceae
- Genus
- Sophora
- Native to
- New Zealand
- Bloom season
- Spring
- Type
- Tree
- Height
- 8–10 m (25–35 ft)
- Sunlight
- Full sun
- Soil
- Well-drained, fertile
- Water
- Moderate
- Hardiness
- 8–10
- Lifespan
- Long-lived (100+ years)
Did you know
- The kowhai is unofficially regarded as New Zealand's national flower—it appears on stamps, currency, and the badges of NZ rugby's Tui team.
- When kowhai blooms in September (early spring in New Zealand), nectar-feeding tui birds become so drunk on the abundant sugar that they literally fall out of the trees.
- The yellow flowers were a sacred color for Maori—the dye was used to color flax cloaks worn by chiefs and priests.
- Kowhai seeds are bright yellow, very hard, and so long-lived that some collected by Captain Cook in 1769 successfully germinated 200 years later in a museum drawer.
- The Maori name 'kowhai' literally means 'yellow' in te reo Maori—the tree gave the language its word for the entire color.
Color meanings
0
spring gold
1
national pride
2
homecoming