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Introduction
Pele - Abelmoschus manihot
Pere in Aotearoa
----- Pere - Alseuosmia macrophylla
----- Pere - Alseuosmia banksii var. linariifolia
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The "proto-Polynesian" name in the heading of this page is preceded by two asterisks, instead of the usual one, because it is probable that the hypothetical proto-Polynesian word (and the plant associated with it) was not brought to Polynesia in the first waves of settlement, but arrived long afterwards – probably sometime in the nineteenth century. The name pele, for the plant Abelmoschus manihot, does indeed have a proto-Oceanic origin, because both the plant and the name were brought to Polynesia from Fiji, and the name was modified as one would expect – Fijian /b/ was changed to Polynesian /p/. So although the Pollex database treats *Pele as a genuine proto-Polynesian word, it is more likely to be a more recent acquisition, albeit indirectly inherited from an earlier Austronesian source. For this reason, W. Arthur Whistler does not feature Abelmoschus manihot in his Plants of the Canoe People, although he does mention in passing (p. 66) that in Samoa if there is a shortage of taro leaves for preparing palusami, those of the "tree spinach" may be substituted for them.
The link between the Māori and the "proto-Polynesian" word is even more tenuous. Firstly, the hypothetical proto-Polynesian word is not echoed in any other Eastern Polynesian language, so that even if it had been inherited by Tongan or Samoan, there is a huge jump in time and space between its leaving that part of the world and arriving here. It could, of course, have been forgotten further north during its journey here, but the evidence points to Abelmoschus manihot having been introduced to places like the Cook Islands from Fiji comparatively recently, and the plants the name is applied to in Aotearoa, although fancied as food by possums, do not appear to have been eaten as vegetables by people. Instead, the Māori plant name pere more likely refers to the dart-like appearance of their long pointed leaves.
Nevertheless, the hypothetical link between the Western Polynesian name and its Māori homonyms gives us the opportunity to feature three more interesting plants which might otherwise have been excluded from our collection!
Pele - Abelmoschus manihot
-RW.jpg) Looking at this plant's spectacular flowers, it is not surprising that Carl Linneus named it Hibiscus manihot in 1753, a name that cotinued to be used by many authors long after the German physician and botanist Friedrich Medikus had proposed its currently accepted botanical name, Abelmoschus manihot, in 1787. The genus Abelmoschus is also a member of the Mallow family, Malvaceae, and includes the well-known herb okra, A. esculens, prized for its edible seed-pods. Abelmoschus manihot is a shrub -like herb 2 m or more high with 15 cm wide hibiscus-like lemon-yellow flowers with deep purple centres. Its leaves are variable in size and shape, but typically have 3 to 5 lobes and are up to 30 cm wide, although the lobes may be broad and rounded or narrow and tapering. The leaves are edible, either cooked or raw, hence the English name "bush spinach". The flower petals are also edible. The plant is native to South and Southeast Asia, China, and northern Australia, and has also become naturalised in some African and South American countries. It was brought as far as Fiji by the "Canoe People", but did not reach Polynesia until the nineteenth century. Malcolm Ross (Lexicon, vol. 3, p. 294) comments that this plant "is seemingly present in every garden throughout the Bismarck Archipelago and the Solomons." He notes also that "there are many varieties, the young shoots and leaves of which have a high protein-to-calorie ratio and are cooked in stone ovens, boiled or steamed in bamboo containers, or roasted in bark." In the Cook Islands it has several names, the most widespread being rūkau viti (literally "Fijian greens") -- rūkau are the leaftops of taro, which are boiled or baked as a green vegetable, as are the leaves of Abelmoschus manihot.
Pere in Aotearoa
 As noted above, the plant name Pere in Aotearoa probably does not share a common whakapapa with its Western Polynesian and Oceanic namesakes. The two species sharing this name are nonetheless important members of the New Zealand flora and welcome members of Te Māra Reo, even if they may be here under false pretences! The genus to which they belong, Alseuosmia, is endemic to Aotearoa, and was first described along with several of its species by the Australian-based English botanist and plant-explorer Allan Cunningham following his fieldwork in Northland in 1826. His name for the genus combines the Greek elements alsos "a grove of trees", eu "good, well" and some "perfume", as this indeed is a group of shrubs which perfume the groves they inhabit. Muriel Fisher (Gardening, p. 35) quotes Cunningham's remarks when he encountered Alseuosmia macrophylla in the forests of Hokianga: "Its elegant flowers adorned the woods, and its delicious odours filled the surrounding atmosphere with fragrance." Tony Foster (Plant Heritage, p. 88) comments "Plants prefer a shaded position as they are intollerant of strong sunlight. The big surprise is the strength of the scent from such an inconspicuous flower, without doubt the most fragrant of any in the New Zealand flora."
Pere - Alseuosmia macrophylla
Alseuosmia macrophylla, the larger leaved and more commonly encountered of the two species known as Pere, is also known as karapapa, korotaiko, toropapa, and occasionally also as horopito. The first two names refer only to Alseuosmia macrophylla, but the third is probably a generic term for under-storey forest shrubs -- see the notes on A. banksii v. linariifolia, below. The use of horopito was probably originally a case of mistaken identity or analogy, as sometimes the leaves of Alseuoma macrophylla have a shape and blotchy red colouring very like the other horopito, Pseudowintera colorata.
Alseuosmia macrophylla is a much-branched shrub or small tree most often around 2m tall, but sometimes reaching as high as 4 or 5 m. The branchlets are reddish-brown, with glossy, variably sized and shaped leaves (often wavy and sometimes toothed) which can be anything up to 20 cm long by 8 cm wide, with petioles (stalks) about 15 mm long. It has tubular, heavily scented most often crimson flowers about 4 cm long, followed by a crimson, oblong shaped berry about 1 cm long and half as wide. The five petals are fused in the tube, but separate slightly to be flared at the tip when the flowers open -- these stages can be seen in the inset photograph, above. The flowers secrete abundant nectar, which attracts the birds who in turn spread the seed by eating the fruit. The birds may assist in pollination, but that is probably done mainly by moths, which are attracted by the strong scent. Flowering is in in late winter to early summer, with fruiting from late spring to autumn.
The shrub is found naturally in forests throughout the North Island, except for the Volcanic Plateau, and also in Northwest Nelson. L. J. Metcalf (Cultivation of NZ Trees and Shrubs, p. 57) describes Alseuosmia macrophylla as "one of the most beautiful shrubs of the New Zealand flora", with flowers varying from full crimson with a paler throat through pinkish to pinkish cream and occasionally white. "The beauty of the flowers and their perfume mark it as a shrub that should be widely cultivated." As one might expect for a plant that lives in the forest under the canopy and avoids sunlight, it thrives in moist soil with plenty of leaf mould and compost -- or even in old rotting logs. Because of the depredations of rats and possums this shrub these days seldom gets a chance to set seed in the wild on most of the NZ mainland; it is not yet regarded as a threatened species, but that is no cause for complacency!
Pere - Alseuosmia banksii var. linariifolia
This plant was described as a separate species, A. linariifolia, when Allan Cuningham published the results of his research in 1838, but has since been reclassified as a variety of A. banksii. It is a bushy shrub normally growing to about a metre high. The leaves are crowded on the branchlets, and have short petioles, about 5 cm long. The leaves are typically of two different dimensions on different plants: 10 to 25 by 1 to 3 mm, or 40 - 100 by 4 - 10 mm. The tubular greenish-yellow flowers are 10 - 17 mm long, scented, in small clusters or sometimes solitary, and followed by a small red berry. This plant is very restricted in its distribution, found naturally only in lowland forests in Northland from Kaitaia to Kaiwaka. It is also difficult to grow in cultivation, and with its rarity in the wild it is probably a good candidate for the Engangered Plants list.
In James Beever's Dictionary of Maori Plant Names A. banksii var. linariifolia, along with Alseuosmia hybrids, is given the alternative name matuku-roimata (hyphenated); the latter are also listed as toropapa. In the Williams Dictionary matukuroimata (single word) is defined as a term for "Alseuosmia linariifolia and other species", and as a general term for "shrubs". Toropapa is listed as a word for A. macrophylla and A quercifolia. In the "standardised terms" database, Ngā Upoko Tukutuku, maintained by The National Library, toropapa is defined under the more general term mauwha (shrubs) as a taxon for understorey forest shrubs, with matuku roimata (two words) used as an example of such a shrub in the whakamārama (example): "He momo toropapa he whāiti ngā rau he kōwhai ngā pua. / A narrow-leaved kind of forest shrub with tubular yellow flowers." The literal or figurative meaning of "matukuroimata", however spelt, cannot easily be deduced from what appear to be its component parts, but the answer to this apparent conundrum is provided in the whakatauākī:
Ngā heihei o Matuku.
The entangling shrubs of Matuku. [M&G, #1995].
In their note about this saying, Hirini Moko Mead and Neil Grove write:
These words are found in a moving lament of a father for his slain son. The shrub is taken as a symbol for difficulties and dangers. In fact the full name Matukuroimata (Alseuosmia [banksii var] lineariifolia) might be translated as 'shrub of tears'. After rain it is said to be found on swampy ground at the end of a rainbow.
A variation on this theme, substituting a lycopod for the Alseuosmia at the end of the rainbow, will be found in the notes on a reference to ngā heihei o Matuku on the page for Tātaraamoa.
Like the rose, a pere nonetheless by any of its names will smell as sweet.
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