Meryta sinclairii, puka - staggering big green, paddle-shaped leaves. Increasingly popular as a result of the huge interest in plants with bold foliage, Meryta sinclairii, the puka, is a superb small, round-headed tree for frost-free situations. It does amazingly well in coastal gardens, and although it gets burnt if it receives the full blast of salt laden gales, will remain untarnished if just a little bit back from the most exposed sand-dunes. It is remarkably drought tolerant and happy in poor soils and is also an excellent container plant. Because it will stand it dry it won’t matter too much if it dries out a bit between waterings.

Shade is no problem for this astonishing native - it will grow in dry shade and in frosty gardens can be grown successfully beneath tall trees that give overhead protection. Combine it with clivias in dry shade. In sun, plant with the tree fern Cyathea medullaris and the ornamental rush Elegia capensis.