Species

Tropaeolum majus

Common Name(s)

nasturtium

Family

Tropaeolaceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Exotic

NVS Species Code

TROMAJ

The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Herbs other than Composites

Habitat

Terrestrial. Disturbed sites, especially adjacent to gardens and dumps. Shrubland, herbfield, wetland, streamsides.

Features

Scrambling or trailing, hairless, aromatic, annual or short-lived perennial, occ climbing to 2 m high. Stems succulent, to 10 m long, sap watery. Leaves distinctive, roundish shield-shaped, often slightly asymmetric, bluish below, up to 18-21 cm diam, with long stalk attached to back of leaf. Flowers solitary or 2-3 clustered, tubular, 4 cm diam, 5 irregular petals, scarlet orange or yellow, Oct- May. Seed capsule 3-sided, green, 10-14 mm long, succulent. Seeds caper-like.

Similar Taxa

No species is easily confused with T. majus in NZ. Cultivated plants have many different flower colours.

Flowering

(January), October, November, December, January, February, March, April, May (December)

Flower Colours

Red / Pink,Yellow

Year Naturalised

1883

Origin

N. Andes

Reason for Introduction

Ornamental

Life Cycle and Dispersal

Perennial. Reproduces primarily via vegetative spread and fragmentation but seeds are also produced. Dispersal is through garden dumping and clonal spread and birds may disperse seeds.

Tolerances

Tolerates salt, wind, hot to cold, semi-shade, damp, physical damage, poor soils.

Foraging for nasturtium

Click on the Radio New Zealand National logo to listen to This Way Up. Simon Morton interviews Johanna Knox about foraging for nasturtium (duration: 11′14″).

This page last updated on 28 Aug 2013