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Image Credit: D. Storey – Natural Values Atlas
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Image Credit: Anna Povey – with permission
Scientific Name: Cyathodes glauca Endemic Having a natural distribution confined to a particular geographic region
Common Name: purple cheeseberry
Family Classification (Clade): Eudicots
Family: Ericaceae
Form Description: Open woody shrub or small tree.
Height (m): 0.6 – 3
Flowers: White tubular flowers in clusters among the leaves at the ends of branches.
Fruit: Drupe – red, pink or purple (rarely white), rounded and somewhat flattened.
Municipality
Plant Communities
Habitat Notes
Widespread and abundant on wet hillsides and mountain foothills, reaching an altitude of 1100m. Usually a straggling shrub but sometimes (on the west coast) a small tree up to 10m high.
Site Tolerance
Exposed, Moist
Soil Tolerance
Fertile, Loam, Well-drained
Frost Tolerance
Hardy
General Notes
Bee attracting. Susceptible to Phytophthora cinnamomi.
Propagation Calendar
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Flowering Month
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec -
Seed Collecting Month
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec -
Sowing Month
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec -
Cutting Month
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Propagation Method
Seed Information
Seed Collection
Masticate seed, leave on a hot window sill or store in paper bags and then remove dried seed case.
Seed Treatment Method
Fermentation Collect fleshy fruits in a plastic bag, mash up and allowed to ferment to replicate digestion by a bird.
Seed Treatment Notes
Fruit is present for much of the year. Difficult to propagate from seed collected from plants. Seeds are said to germinate better after passage through a bird.
Germination Time
May take 1-3 years
Cutting & Division Information
Cuttings are difficult. Extreme care must be taken in handling the typically fine roots of members of the Ericaceae family.