Wharangi belongs to the citrus family, and its leaves are studded with oil glands. When the leaves are crushed, they produce a familiar lemony-orange scent. Māori would chew the gum of Wharangi as a cure for bad breath, as it sweetens and refreshes the mouth. The gum would also be used to produce sweet smelling hair oils and perfumes. There are conflicting reports about its … Continue reading Wharangi – Melicope ternata
Bush lawyer – Tātaramoa – is New Zealand’s answer to blackberry, a scrambling thorny climber studded with sharp backwards-curved hooks. Unlike blackberry however, Bush Lawyer can be found in the middle of the forest, snaring unsuspecting trampers in dense spiky tangles. Once it grabs hold of you, it’s unlikely to let go – presumably the rationale behind its curious English name. Despite the anguish … Continue reading Bush Lawyer – Rubus cissoides
Whau is immediately distinctive in the New Zealand forest; with its large floppy heart-shaped leaves and spiky bommy knocker seeds. It produces one of the lightest woods in the world, and as such was a valuable resource for Māori. The seeds and wood could be used as floats for fishing nets and marker buoys. The trunks were also lashed together with supplejack to construct small rafts … Continue reading Whau – Entelea arborescens
History & Culture The long willow-like branches of Tawa have stolen the lives of many Kererū in their time. Māori hunters would climb great trees, carrying with them immense Tawa lances – sometimes greater than 10 metres long. Slowly, carefully, they would inch the lances closer and closer to their prey until at the final moment they would the thrust them through the heart of … Continue reading Tawa – Beilschimedia tawa
History & Culture The thick black scrambling vines of Supplejack – Kareao – are a distinctive feature of the New Zealand rainforest. In Māori tradition, the vines grew from the tail of the monstrous eel god – Tunaroa. When Maui’s wife Raukura was gathering water from a stream, Tunaroa knocked her over with his giant tail and insulted her. In revenge, Maui ambushed Tunaroa – … Continue reading Supplejack – Ripogonum scandens
History & Culture In Māori tradition, Kiekie and Harakeke are regarded as long lost brothers. Harakeke left home to live with Wainui – the mother of waters – while Kiekie stayed with Tāne – the Lord of the forest – piggy-backing on his shoulders wherever he went. Today, this is where you will most commonly find Kiekie, suspended among the canopy of our mightiest trees. … Continue reading Kiekie – Freycinetia banksii
Culture & History Tutu is one of New Zealand’s deadliest plants. Although the fruit is edible, every other part of the plant contains the powerful neurotoxin tutin which attacks the muscular and nervous systems. The plant claimed the lives of many early Māori – especially children- when seeds were accidentally swallowed along with the fruit. European settlers also fell victim to the plant, with cases … Continue reading Tutu – Coriaria arborea
The mature Rimu tree towers over the canopy with its weeping leaves and shedding bark. If not uprooted by strong winds or felled for timber, it can live to over 1000 years old and grow up to 50m tall. It is a member of the ancient Podocarp family whose lineage stretches back to a time when the New Zealand landmass was still part of the supercontinent … Continue reading Rimu – Dacrydium cupressinum
Culture & History The most striking feature of the Karaka tree are it’s large orange berries; and the word Karaka in Māori means “to be orange”. The raw kernels of these berries carry the toxin Karakin, which is highly poisonous. Humans who consume the kernels convulse in violent spasms that leave them physically distorted and paralyzed. Māori treatment for Karaka poisoning was to gag the … Continue reading Karaka – Corynocarpus laevigatus
Culture & History The typical native flower is pale, white and inconspicuous. Little wonder then, that the flashy yellow blooms of the Kōwhai have become ingrained in the New Zealand consciousness. They hold unofficial status as our national flower, are a common icon of artwork and nationhood, and depictions of Kōwhai have been used on postage stamps and coins. Kōwhai is the Māori word for yellow, and … Continue reading Kōwhai – Sophora spp.
The Meaning of Trees 