# Tōtara (Podocarpus totara)

> A long-lived native conifer growing to about 30 m with thick, stringy reddish bark, stiff brownish-green needle-like leaves and red fleshy fruit that kererū and other birds eat. Māori prized its durable red timber for waka and carving, and the Pouakani tōtara is over 42 m tall and 3.9 m across. It is the most commonly planted podocarp in New Zealand restoration and farm forestry, and is very drought tolerant for a native.

Source: https://treerm.org/trees/podocarpus-totara · Updated 2026-11-08 · License CC BY 4.0

## Facts

- Also called: Totara
- Family: Podocarpaceae
- Type: Conifer
- Mature height: 25 m; spread 10 m
- Growth: Slow growing; lives about 500 years
- USDA hardiness zones: 9 to 9
- Light: Sun or part shade
- Water: Low water
- Soil: Fertile, well-drained alluvial or hill soils; intolerant of prolonged wet ground
- Native range: Endemic to New Zealand, throughout the North and South Islands and rarely on Stewart Island/Rakiura, in lowland to lower subalpine forest.

**Benefits:** Long lived, Birds, Wildlife, Drought tolerant, Stores carbon well, Windbreak

**Good for:** Reforestation, Timber, parks, Yard shade, Screening

**Watch out for:** No major cautions

## Care

Plant in sun or light shade on drained soil; it tolerates dry, lower-rainfall sites but not waterlogging. Interplanting among nurse shrubs improves stem form. Water the first summer; protect from stock and hares. Grows slowly for decades then steadily; prune side branches in winter if a clean trunk is wanted. A fungal leaf spot (Corynelia) is cosmetic.

## Where it stands

- **Native:** New Zealand (Endemic; Not Threatened)

## Sources

- https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/podocarpus-totara-var-totara/
- https://www.conifers.org/po/Podocarpus_totara.php
- https://toolkit.tanestrees.org.nz/growth-yield-calculator/species-information/
- https://www.gbif.org/species/5286079