Ourisia calycina is a showy, large-leaved perennial herb from the South Island of New Zealand, where it grows in damp, sheltered montane to subalpine areas. Its key to growing it is consistent moisture and cool, sheltered conditions.
Family
Plantaginaceae (Plantain family)
Grows as
Perennial
Light
Part shade
Water
Keep the soil consistently moist but not waterlogged, especially during growth.
Soil
Moist, humus-rich, free-draining loam with plenty of organic matter.
Temperature
10–20 °C; tolerates cold well but protect from hot, dry conditions.
How easy
Moderate
Native range
New Zealand
Climate
subalpine or subarctic
About
Ourisia calycina is a species of flowering plant in the family Plantaginaceae that is endemic to the South Island of New Zealand and was described by William Colenso in 1889. Plants of this species are showy, perennial, large-leaved, tufted, rhizomatous herbs that are mostly glabrous (hairless) or with some non-glandular hairs. They have broadly ovate leaves. The flowers are in whorls in each node, with a regular calyx, a large, white irregular corolla, and fruits up to 1 cm long. The corolla tube is yellow with three lines of yellow hairs inside. It is listed as Not Threatened.
Where it grows
Ourisia calycina is endemic to northern and central South Island, New Zealand, particularly Canterbury and Westland (there are two specimens also known from northern Fiordland). It is found in herbfields, scrub, meadows and grasslands in damp, sheltered, rocky or open montane to subalpine habitats from 540 to 2,000 m (1,770 to 6,560 ft) above sea level.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Ourisia calycina by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.