Pictured amongst other New Zealand native trees is a prince among them – the striking nikau.
A stripey trunk, a crown of symmetrical fronds, ropes of berries and a bulb of overlapping leaf bases sitting below the crown.
The old leaf bases will harden and fall to the ground in time. And even then, they are wonderful – as children, we would ride the larger tough, semi-circular shells down slopes like toboggans!
As Aotearoa’s only endemic palm species it is something special.
(The previous post, Electric Glade, starred one of these beauties in a rather modified treatment if you want to see more)
Ebb Then Flood 