Whekī

Dicksonia squarrosa , "Wheki" (Dicksoniaceae)

Alternative names: atewheki, pakue, pēhiakura, tūākura, tūōkura, tio, tirawa, uruuruwhenua. Apart from the "wheki" element, all originated in Aotearoa.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Proto Central Eastern Polynesian *Feki, Cyathea affinis (Cyatheaceae) and probably other frond-bearing, slim-trunked tree-like plants.

COGNATE WORDS IN SOME OTHER POLYNESIAN LANGUAGES
[Some of these apparent cognates are doubtful -- see notes on page for Proto Eastern Polynesian *Feki.]
Tahitian: Fē'ī (Musa troglodytarum "Plantain", Musaceae)
Hawaiian: Hē'ī (Musa troglodytarum "Plantain", Musaceae; Carica papaya "Papaya", Caricaceae; Ipomoea batatas [Kumara cultivar], Convovulaceae; & possibly Cibotium menziesii, "Hapu'u 'i'i", Dicksoniaceae)
Marquesan: Heki ("A tree fern" [probably Cyathea sp.])
Rarotongan: 'eki (Cyathea spp., Cyatheaceae)
Moriori: Whekī (Cyathea medullaris, "Mamaku, Black tree fern", Cyatheaceae)

RELATED MĀORI PLANT NAMES
Related inherited name: Wheki-Ponga (see separate page)

This name appears to be derived from a fairly recent invention in East Polynesia, and may have started off as a catch-all term for tree ferns and other plants with tall, slender stems and a crown of leaves, especially those newly encountered. In Aotearoa whekī unqualified refers to the endemic tree fern Dicksonia squarrosa, and in the combination whekī-Ponga to another endemic tree fern, D. fibrosa (discussed on its own page).

The whekī is perhaps the most durable and widely distributed of New Zealand's tree ferns, often the sole survivor, along with the tī, after the forest has been cleared. It is also one of the most ancient members of the NZ flora -- closely allied species of this genus have been present in Aotearoa for over 300 million years, and were common during Cretaceous Age at the time of the separation of New Zealand and New Caledonia from Gondwana (see George Gibbs, Ghosts of Gondwana, p. 122).

Its vegetative mode of reproduction is unique among New Zealand tree ferns -- it can form clumps by sending out stems from buds near the base which in turn develop buds and produce new plants. This is particularly likely to happen spontaneously when the plants are growing in damp or swampy habitats. The buds on felled trunks will also often develop and root if they come in contact with the soil. If the crown is damaged, the buds near the base will send out roots into the soil and produce new ferns. It also reproduces by spores like other ferns (the sporangia develop in late summer), and solitary trees are not uncommon. Occasionally it may hybridize with the whekī-ponga, Dicksonia fibrosa, but this is rare. Despite this toughness and resilience, however, it is less frost-resistant than some other tree ferns, including its close (botanical) relative, the whekī-ponga, and whekī exposed to wind or adverse weather will look rather scraggly. However in sleltered positions the crowns will be neat and symetrical.

Plants reach varied heights, from about two to seven metres or more, with a slim trunk (up to about 45 cm in diameter). The fronds may be up to 3 metres long by 75 cm or more wide; they are dark-green above and rough to the touch. While opening and when first fully expanded the young fronds are much lighter in colour; before they start to uncurl the pinnae (leaves) are tightly curled in a neat spiral, but they present a rather higgledy-piggledy appearance as they unfurl. The stipes (frond stalks) are rough and hairy at the base; they are covered with dark-brown hairs when young, but these diappear as the frond ages, leaving a smooth, shiny surface behind. The old fronds may remain cloaking the upper part of the trunk for a considerable time, when they eventually break off, a few inches of the base remains, encircling and protecting the trunk and giving it a distinctive appearance. In exposed conditions the older fronds may break off haphazardly, giving the trunks a more unkempt appearance than those in more favoured habitats, cloaked with a mantle of old brown fronds hanging below the crown.

Trunks of whekī (tīrongo) were used for lining house walls, for which they provided excellent insulation. Like the hāpu'u (Cibotium spp.) in Hawai'i, whekī trunks were also sometimes used to provide walkways through boggy ground. The trunks are still used for making fences -- the dormant buds on the felled trunks will often come to life on these structures, as this is one of the few tree ferns (ponga is another) which can grow from a severed trunk planted in the ground.

Although very useful for insulation and related purposes, the whekī apparently was not used medicinally -- it is one of the few common native plants that does not receive a mention in Murdoch Riley's Herbal. However it does receive many mentions in the Large and Braggins book on Tree Ferns, and entries in the works on NZ ferns and trees listed in the bibliography. This species is endemic to Aotearoa, but it is also one of the tree ferns brought by nineteenth-century collectors to Europe for sale in rich people, and one of the few of these which will survive outside in sheltered coastal areas in Europe and North America, making it one of the first uniquely New Zealand plants to become established outside its native land.

A NOTE ON THE TAXONOMY OF TREE FERN SPECIES. A few months after this page was revised in 2022, and shortly after Te Māra Reo Kawerongo #3 was sent out, a decision was made that the NZPCN database should adopt a revised taxonomy for these plants following the publication of several comprehensive DNA and taxonomic studies overseas. The New Zealand tree ferns formerly placed under Cyathea were reassigned to the re-established genera Sphaeropteris (C. medullaris) and Alsophila (all the rest -- with the former C. dealbata being re-named A. tricolor).

The main additional consequential changes required for this web site are: Cyathea parksiae becomes Sphaeropteris parksiae; Cyathea truncata a.k.a. Alsophila truncata becomes Sphaeropteris truncata; Alsophila rugosula is merged with and replaced by Sphaeropteris lunulata; Cyathea decurrens becomes Alsophila decurrens; Cyathea affinis becomes Alsophila tahitensis; also Angiopteris commutata becomes Angiopteris evecta. The genus Cibotium is shifted from the Dixoniaceae to a separate family, Cibotiaceae. These changes will be made page by page as time permits.

The reasons for these changes are outlined in Kawerongo #3 and #4. It should also be noted that these changes are not universally regarded as necessary. If you search for the generic name Alsophila on the Atlas of Living Australia website, for example, you will get this message:

genus: Alsophila R.Br. (accepted name: Cyathea)

Similarly, the botanists at Te Papa Tongarewa (Museum of New Zealand) prefer to regard Cyathea as a single genus, with Alsophila, Sphaeropteris and Cyathea s.s. as subgenera or divisions of the larger grouping.

Dicksonia squarrosa - whekī (Young plant; Photo: (c) Wayne Bennett, NZPCN)	Dicksonia squarrosa - whekī (Developing and fully expanded fronds. Te Māra Reo)
Dicksonia squarrosa - whekī (Detail of young, fully-expanded frond. Te Māra Reo.)	Dicksonia squarrosa - Whēki (Expanding frond. Te Māra Reo.)
Dicksonia squarrosa - whekī (Photo: (c) Wayne Bennett, NZPCN.)	Dicksonia squarrosa - whekī (Upper part of trunk with spent fronds and remnants of frond bases. Te Māra Reo.)