Retrophyllum rospigliosii

Cultivation Details

Native to the wet forests of the Andes, Retrophyllum rospigliosii grows best at elevations from 1,500 - 3,500 metres, where mean annual temperatures are in the range 10 - 18°c, and men annual precipitation is 1,500 - 2,500mm. It can withstand some frost when dormant, tolerating temperatures occasionally falling to between -1°c and +4.4°c^[1]. The tree needs constant humidity and cloudines, which it finds in habitats that include pre-mountainous wet and very wet forest, low mountainous wet and very wet forest, and mountainous pluvial forest^[1]. The tree develops best on gentle slopes, fertile river lowlands, plateaus, and small depressions. It grows in wet, clay or clay-sand, deep, relatively fertile soils with good to slow drainage and an acid pH^[1]. A very slow-growing tree^[1].