Houpara

Scientific name: Pseudopanax lessonii
Other names: Coastal five finger

Tree, shrub
Not native to Wellington

About Houpara

Houpara and its hybrids have escaped from cultivation, effectively becoming invasive weeds outside their native distribution. Houpara is native to the northern North Island, but not to Wellington.

Two of the species – Pseudopanax crassifolius (horoeka/lancewood) and Pseudopanax lessonii (houpara/coastal five-finger) – hybridise wherever they occur together, be this in the wild or in cultivation. So, not only a threat to biodiversity but to its own genetic background.