Meryta sinclairii

[Phil Petersen]

I like this NZ native. Easy to grow and has huge glossy leaves similar to Ficus lyrata. Will get a photo when this latest leaf flush pops up. 

[MikeB]

It is one of my favorite New Zealand plants.  I grew it in California.  Does anybody have experience with It in a hot humid climate?  I just got seeds and want to try it in northeast Florida. Any luck in tropical Australia?

[gilles06]

Any seeds to sell?

[gurugu]

Nice plant! 

If only I could find seeds! 

I once, tried Meryta denthamii with cuttings,, but no way. 

[Phil Petersen]

@gilles06no seeds sorry. This was bought from a local garden centre. @guruguthanks,  a little yellowing after a south island winter but looking forward to the current flush of new spring leaves 🙂

This plant gets marketed here as a much tougher native alternative to the fiddle leaved fig. Handles strong wind, light frost, hail and the odd snowfall no problem. This genus is from the south pacific so should be adaptable in warmer climates  such as Forida I would think. Only grows naturally in far north of NZ mainly on offshore islands and I know they can have some drought occasionally.

@Mike B I'd be interested in how it goes for you in your location.

[Phil Petersen]

@Mike B these go well in pots but the pot needs to be big, and can't be allowed to dry out at all. On the hottest days in summer here (30degC) this one starts showing heat stress and needs a water. 

[Phil Petersen]

[Tracy]

On 10/13/2022 at 9:58 AM, Phil Petersen said:

Attractive plant.   The growth with multiple leaves erupting from a terminal growth point is a little reminiscent of Cussonia.  Would love to grow one of the Meryta here, just not readily available. 

[Phil Petersen]

Thanks @Tracy, I really enjoy watching these leaf eruptions. Its amazing how fast they can turn into 30cm long leaves. I'll have to look up Cussonia to see what that looks like. 😄

[Tracy]

2 hours ago, Phil Petersen said:

Cussonia to see what that looks like

You will see the structure of the leaves are quite different, but the long petiole and the eruption of multiple leaves from a node is quite similar as you will see.  The Cussonia genus is from Africa.  I've posted my Cussonia spicata on these pages, so you can see them here too.  I know a couple of people growing Meryta balansae here successfully.  Our moderator's old home here in my neighborhood, which his son now owns has a nice specimen of M balansae.  I saw M sinclairii on San Marcos Grower's pages described but not available (they are a large wholesale grower here in California).

[Expectorating aubergine]

We had these at my work. Very sensitive to hot dry Santa Ana winds. Also very vulnerable to phytophora. They all perished quickly...

[Tracy]

On 10/19/2022 at 6:36 PM, Expectorating aubergine said:

We had these at my work. Very sensitive to hot dry Santa Ana winds. Also very vulnerable to phytophora.

When you mention these, I assume you are referring specifically to the Meryta sinclairii?  You mention sensitive to hot dry Santa Ana winds, so I assume the ones that were near your work were somewhere in Southern California, just curious where your work is, since we have so many different climate zones here in Southern California.  I'm still trying to assess if this is a viable species in my coastal zone which isn't as heavily impacted by Santa Ana's and where the humidity tends to be higher due to the marine influence.  New Zealand native Rhopalostylis species do well along the coastal zone here which seem to struggle more as one pushes further inland in California for example.

[Peter]

Tracy the Meryta sinclairii  would grow just fine for you there-I would just give it protection from direct sun.

[Expectorating aubergine]

On 10/21/2022 at 1:26 PM, Tracy said:

When you mention these, I assume you are referring specifically to the Meryta sinclairii?  You mention sensitive to hot dry Santa Ana winds, so I assume the ones that were near your work were somewhere in Southern California, just curious where your work is, since we have so many different climate zones here in Southern California.  I'm still trying to assess if this is a viable species in my coastal zone which isn't as heavily impacted by Santa Ana's and where the humidity tends to be higher due to the marine influence.  New Zealand native Rhopalostylis species do well along the coastal zone here which seem to struggle more as one pushes further inland in California for example.

I work in anaheim, if that helps. I'm fairly certain that they all died. You never know though, some might be kicking around in some tucked away corner...

[Phil Petersen]

[Phil Petersen]

That leaf flush which started in mid Oct as seen now almost 2 months later.  There have been few days over 20degC here in that time.  It may flush again before summer is over. 

[Phil Petersen]

My original plant unfortunately ended up getting some type of rot last summer from a blockage in the pot drainage hole, and meaning the crown collapsed and died away. I cut off the crown and it came back strongly from leaf nodes. Also ended up getting another 3 plants so will plant out these in the ground this summer. 

[Rivera]

It's a gorgeous tree.

I haven't been able to find a nursery plant, so I'm attempting to start it from seed sent from NZ, we'll see how it goes.

Realistically, I don't really have room to let it grow large in my small and already full San Francisco garden while preserving sunlight and respecting neighbors, but it's irresistible.

I'm very close to the ocean and many unaccustomed plants sulk in these maritime conditions, so it's a winner from that perspective too.

Wish I'd taken a photo closer, but there's a pukanui visible in the midground far right of this photo I took of the nikau grove in the San Francisco Botanical Garden. 

Sorry about your Meryta, but it seems it's not a total loss. Thanks for sharing.

[Phil Petersen]

6 hours ago, Rivera said:

It's a gorgeous tree.

I haven't been able to find a nursery plant, so I'm attempting to start it from seed sent from NZ, we'll see how it goes.

Realistically, I don't really have room to let it grow large in my small and already full San Francisco garden while preserving sunlight and respecting neighbors, but it's irresistible.

I'm very close to the ocean and many unaccustomed plants sulk in these maritime conditions, so it's a winner from that perspective too.

Wish I'd taken a photo closer, but there's a pukanui visible in the midground far right of this photo I took of the nikau grove in the San Francisco Botanical Garden. 

 

Sorry about your Meryta, but it seems it's not a total loss. Thanks for sharing.

Great photo of the nikau grove and the pukanui, which is unmistakable once you know their appearance.

 

The one that suffered crown rot will look good again in a couple of years I hope so I havent given up on it. Good to have access to more here locally  if needed.

 

This truly is a gorgeous tree if you can get it, so I wish you best of luck with germination of the seeds. Ill get a photo of a front yard here that has 3 mature specimens approximately 3m high and almost as wide. Its 50m from the ocean on the south coast so definitely handles strong, cold wind and a lot of salt spray well.

Cheers!

[Phil Petersen]

Two plants in the ground now. The dark green plant is the one which had the crown collapse. Seems to be away pretty strongly now. 

[Phil Petersen]

On 2/18/2024 at 12:54 PM, Phil Petersen said:

Two plants in the ground now. The dark green plant is the one which had the crown collapse. Seems to be away pretty strongly now. 

The newer plant got a bit zapped by a frost here in early August. Would have likely been ok but it had been a mild winter and as a result was in the middle of an early spring flush. The tender new leaves are obviously much less frost hardy. Should be ok, will look a little tatty for a bit but will grow out the damage in a few months.

[MikeB]

I have been trying and will keep trying to grow this plant from seed.  I have not had any luck.  I was told by one supplier that the seed needs to be very fresh.  Maybe that's the problem.  Does anybody have experience with Meryta from seed?

[Jonathan]

Great plants, they grow really well in my climate. Both of mine flowered this year and I seem to have one bunch hanging on as possible fruit...fingers crossed!

[Than]

I got some fresh seeds from NZ but none sprouted. Unless they were not fresh as the seller told me.

[Phil Petersen]

On 8/18/2024 at 3:08 PM, Jonathan said:

Great plants, they grow really well in my climate. Both of mine flowered this year and I seem to have one bunch hanging on as possible fruit...fingers crossed!

Looks like they love Tassie life! 

[Jonathan]

On 8/24/2024 at 10:04 AM, Phil Petersen said:

Looks like they love Tassie life! 

They do, mostly. They only seem unhappy when the temperature gets up around 35+ degrees, which is, fortunately only a couple of times a year at most down here, and thats probably more a result of our dry sandy soil than the actual temp. Cold not a problem, always look green and lush in winter. Should be more commonly planted.

[Rivera]

On 8/20/2024 at 12:09 AM, Than said:

I got some fresh seeds from NZ but none sprouted. Unless they were not fresh as the seller told me.

Same here.

At this point, I don't really have a spot for it anyway. 

[Tracy]

14 hours ago, Rivera said:

Same here.

At this point, I don't really have a spot for it anyway. 

I wonder how Meryta balansae would perform for you.  They seem to stay reasonably sized for a long time.  I am guessing smaller than the M sinclarii.  

[Rivera]

51 minutes ago, Tracy said:

I wonder how Meryta balansae would perform for you.  They seem to stay reasonably sized for a long time.  I am guessing smaller than the M sinclarii.  

Not sure of their ultimate size; I don't think I've seen a photo of one over 10 feet, and it still didn't have a lot of spread after branching. 

I have read a couple times they do fine here in SF (on this forum or Dave's Garden). I can ask Darold if he's grown it, though I won't be purchasing any more plants any time soon. Too many already!

[Darold Petty]

No, I have never grown either species.  I would have enjoyed them, but it is too late for me, no longer any space available.

[PlantMorePalms]

Meryta balansae grows well in SF, mine has been in the ground since last May and has gone from a 6" cutting to about 4.5'. I wanted to try sinclairii but couldn't find one for sale, which is probably for the best given the size of my garden.