Love is in the air - the magnificent, delicious Piper excelsum, kawakawa & the kawakawa looper

kawakawa leaves and flower spikes | Photo by Gabriela V.

Kawakawa, a truly extraordinary endemic plant, used in the traditional Rongoā Māori, the time-honoured Māori healing system. It is known for its anti-inflammatori and anti-bacterial properties.

Found in the understory of lowland forests throughout New Zealand, it prefers shade with free-draining moist soil. Once established it will tollerate considerable drought. Kawakawa is frost tender. It grows to about 3 m height and 2 m width, but can be judiciously pruned if neccesarry.

Linocut print of kawakawa by Gabriela V.

Its beautiful heart-shaped, aromatic leaves are quite often adorned with a lacy network of holes, created by another endemic symbiotic species - the caterpillar of the kawakawa moth. It is believed that the affected leaves are the ones with the most healing properties and consequently recomended to use when harvesting for medicinal purposes.

Male and female flowers are carried on separate spikes, often on separate plants. The female flower spikes gradually swell after pollination and become fleshy and turn yellow to bright orange attracting the kererū or New Zealand pigeon and tūī .

This plant is a must have for any garden.

Cleora scriptaria, kawakawa loper is the endemic moth species whose caterpillars are responsible for the holey appearance of the kawakawa leaves!

Male kawakawa looper moth. | Image: Possums' End/ CC BY

kawakawa looper caterpillar | Image: Kyle Bland / CC-BY-NC

Pittosporum umbellatum - host to the "flower of the underworld"

Pittosporum umbellatum also known as haekaro and tātaka. | Photo by L. Benson

Haekaro is a versatile native evergreen shrub, bearing dark green oval leaves and clusters of sweetly-scented, cup-shaped flowers that emerge in spring. Pollinated by birds and insects, its flowers are amongst the largest in the genus. Its nectar is rich and the later-bearing fruit a valuable food resource for lizards.

Endemic to coastal forest and understory plant communities in the North Island, it grows to ~7m x 3m and provides erosion control through its canopy and network of roots.

The young branches and leaves are covered with fine hairs, helping to withstand salt spray in its native environments.

Haekaro is a host tree for pua o te reinga (flower of the underworld) - Dactylanthus taylorii is the only fully parasitic plant in New Zealand!

By Joseph dalton Hooker (1817 - 1911) - http://www.botanicus.org/page/912718#, Public Domain

This unique plant is significant in the native flora of New Zealand. It connects to host trees' roots using a stem that also resembles a root. As a result, the host root transforms with an appearance of a fluted wooden rose, and it is through this connection, similar to a placenta, that the dactylanthus obtains all nutrients.

It is currently classified as Threatened-Nationally Vulnerable and is a high-priority threatened species for the Department of Conservation.

Devoid of green leaves or true roots, the plant known by the Māori name "pua o te reinga" (flower of the underworld), reveals its flowers as they emerge from below the ground. Its powerful fragrance lures pollinators, including the endangered ancient species unique to New Zealand, the Lesser Short-tailed Bat (Mystacina tuberculata).

By Zoological Society of London.; Zoological Society of London. - https://www.flickr.com/photos/biodivlibrary/7629993166, Public Domain,

New Zealand's only native terrestrial mammals known by the Māori name pekapeka, have distinctive adaptations that set them apart from bats found elsewhere in the world. These adaptations enable them to navigate the forest floor in search of food, using their folded wings in a manner akin to front limbs.

Flamboyant Natives - taurepo & hihi

Would you like to attract native birds to your garden?

Then taurepo is the plant for you! Tūī, bellbird, and stitchbirds are all attracted to its nectar and play a crucial role in its pollination.

The Rhabdothamnus genus is exclusive to New Zealand and consists of just one species - Rhabdothamnus solandri, also known as New Zealand gloxinia, taurepo, mātātā and waiū-atua.

Rhabdothamnus solandri, coastal forest - Coromandel Peninsula. Photo by L. Benson.

An attractive multi-branched shrub, it is ideal for well-draining and fertile soils in semi-shade. In the wilderness, it serves as an under-shrub (growing to 2m height) in coastal and lowland forests, thriving especially on stream banks.

Its nodding, delicate flowers come in shades of orange-red, orange with red veins, and yellow with red venation, leaving a lasting impression once witnessed! Flowering on and off throughout the year, this unique native shrub from New Zealand reaches its peak bloom from October to February.

The foliage has a similar appearance to Carpodetus serratus (putaputawētā) or even the Fuscospora genus of native beech trees and is loosely arranged on slender stems. Both stems and leaves are covered in fine hairs called trichomes that provide additional defence against salt spray and wind.

This shrub makes a valuable addition to any garden, where the right conditions for growth already exist or can be achieved through thoughtful intervention.

King, Martha, 1803?-1897:[ Rhabdothamnus solandri or New Zealand gloxinia] Folio C No.16[1842]. Ref:A-005-016. ALEXANDER TURNBULL Library, Wellington, New Zealand./records/23145663

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One of New Zealand's rarest endemic birds, and taurepo's pollinator - the stitchbird, hihi.

Illustrated by John Gerrard Keulemans (1842-1912): Dutch bird illustrator. From A history of birds of New Zealand,2nd edition, By sir Walter Lawry Buller (1838-1906)