Mairehau, Maire hau

Māori: Leionema nudum (Rutaceae); Tuamotu: Microsorum grossum (Polypodiaceae)

Alternative name: Māireire, also from Proto-Polynesian *Maile

ETYMOLOGY:
From Proto Polynesian *Maile Alyxia stellata (Apocynaceae); possibly through
Proto Eastern Polynesian: *Maire hau, Fragrant plants reminiscent of the Alyxia vines .

COGNATE WORDS IN SOME OTHER POLYNESIAN LANGUAGES
Tongan, Niuean: Maile (Alyxia stellata, Apocynaceae)
Tahitian: Maire (Alyxia stellata; also the fragrant fern Microsorum commutatum*, Polypodiaceae)
Hawaiian: Maile (Alyxia stellata)
Marquesan: Mei'e (Alyxia stellata)
Tuamotuan: Maire hau (Microsorum grossum*, "Maile-scented fern", Polypodiaceae)
Rarotongan: Maire (Alyxia stellata; also a general name for ferns, applied especially to Microsorum grossum* (Polypodiaceae)

*Note. The species previously referred to as Polypodium commutatum is now (2026) Microsorum commutatum; Phymatosorus scolopendria and P. grossus are now regarded as synonyms of Microsorum grossum.

RELATED MĀORI PLANT NAMES
Maire (Notelaea spp., Oleaceae, and other trees and shrubs, many with olive-like characteristics)
Note: See the page for Proto-Polynesian *Maile for more information about the ancestral names, their modern descendents, and the plants they denote.

The New Zealand plant that seems most like the tropical maire in appearance and fragrance is the maire hau, Leionema nudum. This was an important cropping shrub to the Māori for its fragrant leaves and flowers. The mairehau is a many-branched shrub growing to around 3 m tall, associated with kauri (Agathis australis) forests in the Northland, Auckland, Waikato and Coromandel regions and Great Barrier Island. It has slender branches with reddish bark. The narrow leaves, about 3-5cm long, are dotted with oil glands which contain the essential oil of citronella, along with phenol and camphene, making the whole plant aromatic even when the fragrant flowers are not in season.

The flowers also are sources of aromatic oils. Like the tropical Maire, all parts of the plant contain the aromatic ingredients. The leaves were used in sachets (a more modern use is as a flavouring for mulled wine), and the concentrated oil was added to a certain kind of shark oil for annointing chiefs on special occasions, mixed with pigeon fat as a sweet-smelling hair dressing, and also used to scent tītoki oil. The oil also was used therapeutically as an analgesic. By itself, maire hau oil frpm the crushed leaves can set up a strong alergic reaction in some people if it is rubbed on their skin and the affected part is exposed to sunlight, but diluting it in another medium presumably minimizes this risk. I noticed an advertisement from an aromatherapist offering the oil for $15 a bottle – I assume that the essential oil is mixed with a carrier oil for this purpose. The foliage is also extremely attractive to goats, although it would be wasting a valuable plant to use it deliberately as goat-fodder. It is one of New Zeland's most attractive shrubs, and should indeed be much more widely grown in gardens (the plant is frost-tender but will acclimatize if looked after in cooler settings).

The early Polynesian settlers of New Zealand would have found this species an ideal candidate for the names mairehau and māireire -- the latter name, implies that this plant is indeed the maire par excellence. The botanical name Leionema nudum is of comparatively recent vintage; books published before 2015 will refer to the mairehau as Phebalium nudum.

The Tuamotuan Mairehau is a fragrant fern, Microsorum grossum. This fern is discussed under the name for its unfolding new leaves, kiwakiwa, on the page for Proto-Polynesian *Kiwa.