Plant in sun or part shade in a wide range of soil types, including sandy loams or even heavier clay provided that there is decent drainage. Irrigate regularly to only occasionally. It is cold hardy to short duration temperatures down to 20 to 25° F. In an article in the June 1992 issue of Sunset Magazine it was noted that a tree of this variety then growing in Palo Alto suffered no damage after temperatures dropped there to 17° F during the 1990 Christmas freeze. The short duration 18°F low temperature we experienced with that same freeze damaged younger container plants but these plants mostly rebounded. It is a good candidate for a lawn tree and its slow growth rate makes it a good tree for smaller gardens or street plantings and the fragrant yellow flowers are attractive to bees.

Tristaniopsis laurina occurs naturally on moist, well-drained sites along the east coast of Australia, from the Brisbane River in Queensland south through coastal New South Wales to northern Victoria where it is often found along in rainforest clearings and creek banks. It was long known as Tristania laurina but a 1982 taxonomic treatment spit Tristania into 5 general that included Tristania, Lophostemon and Tristaniopsis. The other common tree in cultivation previously called Tristania conferta was reclassified as Lophostemon confertus. The original name for the original genus name honors the French botanist Jules M.C. Tristan (1776-1861) , a French botanist and the suffix 'iopsis', from the Greek word meaning "appearance" signifies that the plant is similar to Tristania. The specific epithet a comes from the Latin word for the "laurel" or "bay tree" with the suffix 'inus' (feminine 'ina') that indicates this plants resemblance to the laurel. Another common name for this tree is Kanooka.

The cultivar 'Elegant' was originally introduced by the Saratoga Horticultural Foundation after it was trialed between 1974 and 1977. We purchased trees from them and grew it on and off from 1981 until 2004. The picture on this page courtesy of the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Plant Select Program 

This information about Tristaniopsis laurina 'Elegant' displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.