The tree in this image is the Taraire - Beilschmedia taraire - found only in Northland and Auckland. It is a handsome tree with large glossy leaves and it reaches 60-80 feet in height. Its young shoots and leaf-stalks are covered in rusty down and its large mature leaves catch the light with their sheen.

Growing out of the top of it in this painting is another tree, the Shining Broadleaf - Griselinia lucida - an endemic species which itself can reach a height of up to 30 feet.

In New Zealand we have a lot of epiphytic growth - plants that grow on other plants and trees - especially in areas of good rainfall. And these are not just tiny plants, some of them are substantial in their own right, like this Griselinia and the Northern Rata - often 100 feet high - which begins life as an epiphyte and ends up overtopping and strangling its host.

At the bottom of the painting is the Five-Finger - Pseudopanax arboreum - a member of the Aralia family found in lowland forest throughout New Zealand

Acrylic on canvas board. Overall size 12" x 16".

Sold - Hamilton NZ.