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Introduction
Categories of names:
... Sound
... Appearance
... Distribution
... Smell
... Association
... As yet, Unexplained!
... He mana nō te Rangi
A link between East and West
Use of the word tūtae in Eastern Polynesian plant names
In the "Ngā rongo o te wā / Notes and News" section of the website for March 2020, under the heading "Use of the word "tūtae" in plant names" I wrote that:
It is always good to get questions and observations from friends of Te Māra Reo and other visitors to the site -- these often speed up the production of new pages or additions and amendments to existing ones. The latest question concerned the use of the term tūtae in many Māori plant names, and whether this occured elsewhere in Polynesia. It came at a very opportune time, as I was trying to pinpoint the referent of the name tūtae fatitiri in the Tuamotus for an unnamed species of gourd.
My research at the time netted an interesting collection of Polynesian plant names, which I included with accompanying photographs in the "Rongo" section, and later added a link to it on the index of plant names page. However it was not until much later (September 2023) that I was able to find a plausible solution to the Tuamotuan problem.
Since so many Eastern Polynesian plants have names incorporating the word tūtae, a word which itself has an ancient lineage, I have decided to devote a separate web page to these plants, using the data and photographs from the 2020 news item and adding new information (including 14 Hawaiian names inadvertantly left out of the initial list). There is room for more information and names to be added as they may be discovered. In the discussion which follows, numbers in square brackets, e.g. [1], refer t the picture accompanying the paragraph -- the photographer is identified in the list following the text. Photographs of the other plants are in the galleries above and below, or, for a few plants more fully described elsewhere, in the linked pages.
Categories of names
Sound: Tūtae fatitiri (Tuamotuan): Ipomoea violacea and Operculina polynesica (Convolvulaceae).
 Plants may be identified by sight, but they may also be distinguished by sound. This Tuamotuan term is defined, under a cross-reference from the entry for pōhue ("a variety of gourd-bearing creeper") in J. Frank Stimson and Donald Marshall's Dictionary of Some Tuamotuan Dialects of the Polynesian Language, as "the round berries of the pōhue plant; the kernels are used to prepare a medicine for swellings or nodules". My guess was that the "gourd" was either a species of Zehneria, which would fit the description in the Stimson and Marshall dictionary better, or else the wax gourd, Benincasa hispida. But I found nothing about the "kernels" of either plant being used to treat "swellings and nodules", nor evidence of a species of Zehneria's being present in the Tuamotus. So the identity of this particular lightning deposit following a thunderclap remained uncertain. The mystery was eventually solved by the Tahiti-based botanist and molecular chemist Jean François Butaud. He pointed out to me that in the Tuamotus there are no Zehnerias, although there is a Tahitian species, known as huehue. In the Tuamotus pōhue generally refers to Ipomoea violacea (photo in the gallery, above) or the related member of the Convolvulaceae [1] Operculina polynesica (pictured on the left). Both produce small round fruit which if stepped on will burst with a small "bang", a mini thunder-clap (tiri). I. violacea tends to be one of the dominant beach vines in areas where it is present, with stems 5 metres or more in length, trailing over rocks and sand. In the Marquesas it is found along roadsides and in dry shrublands as well as beach areas. The tubes of its white flowers are up to 10 cm long. O. polynesica is a vigorous trailler or twiner with slihtly smaller flowers, found on or near beaches and areas near the sea where coral is close to the surface. As well as the Tuamotus it is found in Tonga, Niue, Atiu and Henderson Island (Pitcairn group). Like other species in this genus, the fruit is an "operculate capsule", that is, a capsule with a lid-like component. As to the medicinal qualities of the species, these for the moment remain unconfirmed.
Appearance: Tūtae kurī (Māori): Solanum tuberosum [a dark-blue potato cultivar] (Solanceae);
Tūtae pua'a (Tahiti): Mucuna gigantea (Fabaceae);
Tūtae kiore (Mangareva): Solanum americanum (Solanaceae); (Aotearoa): Euphrasia cuneata (Orobanchaceae);
Kūkae moa (Hawai'i): Melicope clusiifolia (Rutaceae);
Kūkae nēnē (Hawai'i): Coprosma ernioides (Rubiaceae);
Kūkae pele (Hawai'i): Rosa spp. (Rosaceae).
 The question about the use of
the term tūtae in plant names generally can however be answered with more confidence. First it must be noted that in Polynesian languages this word does not have the primarily scatological connotations of its common English equivalents "turd" or "excrement". It could perhaps be more accurately defined as "deposit, often of fecal matter". It is quite a matter-of-fact word, so that few Māori-speakers would be put off eating a meal incorporating tūtae kurī, a delicious heritage variety of potato ([2] Solanum tuberosum), just because its name translates as "dog turd" (probably bestowed because of the shape and general appearance of the tubers). It does have other descriptive names, but these are outside the scope of this page.
 Another name in this category (referring to the general appearance of part of the plant) is tūtae pua'a (pig ~, Tahiti) [3] Mucuna gigantea, the "Sea bean" (picture on left). This is a liana native to Tahiti and other Pacific islands, found in coastal areas and lowland forests. It has a drinkable sap, tapped by cutting a stem and making a second cut above it. The polished seeds are used by jewellers for various ornamental purposes. In the Cook Islands, especially Atiu, it is often used as a skipping rope (kākā), and its seeds are sometimes called 'ua kākā ririki ("seeds of the small vine") there. It is one of the plants used for making fibres in Samoa, and the vine is also used for making fish traps. The seeds are known as tupe in Samoa -- that word became a term for money because of the similarity of coins to Mucuna and St Thomas Bean (Entada phaseoloides) seeds.
 The Hawaiian kūkae moa (chicken ~), [4] Melicope clusiifolia (pictured on the left), takes its name from the appearance of the fruit. It is a shrub or small tree growing 2-10m tall in damp forests throughout Hawai'i, with fruit that when ripe does indeed look like chicken droppings. It has two close relatives in Aotearoa (M. ternata, wharangi, and M. simplex, poataniwha). Similarly, the alternative name of Coprosma ernioides, kūkae nēnē, refers to the similarity of the fruit to the droppings of the goose that feeds on them. Tūtae kiore (rat or mouse ~), is the Mangarevan name for the small poroporo, Solanum americanum, with its clusters of small berries
(in Japan the berries of Privet have the an equivalent name). The Māori tūtae kiore, the tūtūmako or North Island Eyebright, Euphrasia cuneata, may owe this name to its small, oblong seed capsules.
This is an interesting alpine plant (although it also can be found at sea-level) which may take the form of a herb or small shrub and has showy, tubular flowers, the lower lip much longer than the upper. It grows alongside streams and in rocky places. The plants develop secondary rootlets which can suck nutrients from the roots of neighbouring plants.
 Also in this class, by a rather circuitous route, are the tūtae pele, the introduced roses [5] (Rosa spp.); the brightness of the flowers reflects the colour and fire of sulphur and brimstone, the traditional tūtae pele, left behind by Pele, the tutelary goddess of volcanoes.
Distribution: Tūtae puaka (Rarotonga): Phymatosorus grossus (Polypodiaceae);
Tūtae kōau (Aotearoa): Pimelea lyalii (Thymelaeaceae) and Apium prostratum v. filiforme (Umbelliferae);
Tūtae ika moana (Aotearoa): Tetragonia tetragonioides (Aizoaceae);
Tūtae kāhu and Tūtae kākā (Aotearoa): Oxalis magellanica (Oxalidaceae).
 Distribution or co-occurrence can also play a part.
The mini-shrub [6] Pimelea lyalii, which grows mostly buried in sand, has the name tūtae kōau (shag ~), possibly referring to the way the tops of its branches look as if they have been scattered through the sand dunes by a passing sea-bird; Similarly, the
other Māori tūtae kōau, Apium prostratum v. filiforme (NZ wild celery) probably owes its name to its distribition along lagoons and in other places frequented by shags (kōau, kāwau) and the appearance of its clusters of fruit (this is the only Māori name currently used for this plant although Dumont D'Urville collected the name rauoru for it on his visit to the Bay of Islands in 1826). Tūtae ika moana (fish-of-the-sea ~), Tetragonia tetragonioides, kōkihi or NZ spinach, another denizen of the coastal fringe, may get its alternative name from its association with that habitat. The names tūtae kāhu (hawk ~) and tūtae kākā (parrot ~) associated with the forest-dwelling Oxalis magellanica are somewhat puzzling, but may reflect the forest habitats which both the plant and the birds frequent.
O. magellanica is one of the "ghosts of Gondwana", a species common to Aotearoa and South America. It is a small perennial herb with solitary white flowers, found most commonly in bogs and damp, shady places in the forest.
Smell: Tūtae kiore (Mangareva): Alyxia stellata (?) (Apocynaceae);
Kūkae 'ua'u (Hawaii): Coprosma ernodioides (Rubiaceae);
Tūtae puaka (Rarotonga) Phymatosorus grossus.
 Sometimes smell may be a factor, in itself or combined with others: this may possibly be the case for yet another kind of tūtae kiore (rat ~) in Mangareva,
where the name has also been bestowed on a species of [7] Alyxia. This genus has several species noted for their pleasant fragrance, among them the maile of Hawai'i and the maire of the Cook Islands (both varieties of the pan-Polynesian A. stellata, classified as separate species until John Middleton's "Revision" was published in 2002). Perhaps the Mangarevan variant has not so pleasant a scent: the entry in the Rensch & Whistler Dictionary includes the note "like the maile pilau of Hawai'i" -- plants of that species, Paederia foetida, are described in the Wagner et al. Manual as "twining, malodorous vines", a perception reflected in their Hawaiian name. On the other hand, in the absence of further information, it is more likely that since the Mangarevan plant is identified as "Alyxia sp.", and this is the only species of Alyxia growing in the archipelago, rather than the Alyxia's fragrance, the shape or appearance of the fruit, or its dispersal by means of rat droppings, may have merited the Mangarevan name.
Although it has for the moment been grouped with Alyxia stellata s.l., Middleton does note that the fruit of the Marquesan plants is unusually large; Jean François Butaud
(pers. comm.) thinks it is probably a distinct species.
 A better candidate for this category is the Hawaiian kūkae 'ua'u, Coprosma ernodioides, ~ of the dark rumped petrel, Pterodroma phaeogyphia sandwichensis, an endangered sea bird considered by some Hawaiians to be an 'aumakua (personal atua, family god). This plant is also known as kūkaenēnē, on account of its close association with the nēnē goose, and is described on the page for Proto-Polynesian *Ngenge. It was traditionally a source of a yellow dye for tapa. The assocation with the 'uau'a however is probably because of its smell: Pukui and Elbert do not include a plant in their dictionary entry for kūkae 'ua'u, but instead define the term as "excreta and scent of 'ua'u birds, as left in their holes". Similarly maile tūtae puaka (pig ~, Rarotonga) [8] Phymatosorus grossus (pictured left and in the gallery below), probably owes its name to the scent of its crushed leaves -- favoured in some places but evidently not in Rarotonga. The link may be enhanced because of its brown rhizomes and the way it's scattered around on old tree stumps in the forest.
Association: Tūtae kererū (Aotearoa): Parsonsia heterophylla (Apocynaceae);
Tūtae 'u'upā (Tahiti): Decaisnina forsteriana (Loranthaceae);
Kūkai hipa (Hawai'i): Acanthospermum australe (Asteraceae);
Kūkae hoki (Hawai'i): Crotalaria incana (Fabaceae);
Kūkae 'iole (Hawai'i): Colocasia esculenta (Araceae) growing in inaccessible places;
Kūkae lio (Hawai'i): Mushrooms and toadstools (generic, fungi in the order Agaricomycetes);
Kūkae pua'a (Hawai'i): Digitaria setigera (Poaceae).
 Parsonsia heterophylla, otherwise known as tatuauā, kaihua, akakaikiore and the NZ Jasmine, has the name tūtae kererū (pigeon ~). This vine which festoons trees in damp forest margins with tresses of its heavily scented flowers does not seem to have any obvious association with pigeons of the kind which would merit the epithet "tūtae" (its seeds are dispersed via tufts of hair, like thistles, rather than directly from the succulent fruits which kererū, along with rats, feast on), but the fruits are among the favourite foods of the kererū so the association is there nonetheless. Much more direct is the association with the plant designated by the tūtae kererū's near-namesake in Tahiti, the tūtae 'u'upā, [9] Decaisnina forsteriana (also pigeon ~; in Māori kukupā is an alternative name for kererū). This hemi-parasitic vine (a kind of mistletoe, illustrated on the left) is indeed a deposit from the dove: the berries are eaten by the 'u'upā, which then deposits the seeds with a dose of fertilizer to give them a good start in life on the trunks of suitable trees.
Taro found growing in the crotches of trees and other odd places are thought to be the result of their having been carried there by rats, hence the name kūkae 'iole.
 Kūkae hipa (sheep ~) and kūkae hoki (mule ~) are common weeds found where their eponymous associates have been grazing. The former is a prostrate herb [10] Acanthospermum australe introduced to Hawai'i in the 19th Century. It is also known as the Paraguayan sheep burr, and its prickly seed-capsules (illustrated on the left) easily become entangled in the fleece of a passing sheep. The latter, Crotalaria incana, is a comopolitan small shrub (also an 19th Century introduction) found in pastures, wasteland and along roadsides. Its fruit is an inflated cylindrical pod with kidney-shaped seeds which rattle as the pod dries, giving it one of its English names "rattlepod". Similarly mushrooms and toadstools, kūkae lio (horse ~) are often encountered where horses have been roaming.
Two species of mushroom growing in Hawai'i have been chosen at random to illustrate the Hawaiian kūkae lio in the gallery below: a species of Coprynopsis (Psathyrellaceae), a genus of mushrooms many of which which live in grassy areas and are often associated with horse dung, and Macrocybe spectabilis (Tricholomataceae), a species associated with sugar cane in a genus in which many species live on dead wood among grass and some flourish directly in horse dung.
Quite a different kind of assocation is embedded in the Hawaiian phrase Kūkae pua'a (pig ~). Digitaria setigera is a sacred grass native to Hawai'i used in ceremonies and traditionally also chewed to relieve pain. It is the plant form of the demigod Kama-pua'a, who also may take the form of a pig. The leaves were chewed and swallowed, or the juice extracted and combined with other ingredients. The juice of the leaves mixed with salt was used to alleviate pain caused by toothache, and applied to cuts. The tender shoots were used as a remedy for cataracts.
As yet, Unexplained! Tūtae kurī (Rarotonga): Sporobolus fertilis; (Aotearoa) Anthosachne kingiana s. multiflora (Poaceae);
Kūkae kōlea (Hawai'i): Coix lachryma-jobi (Poaceae);
Kūkae koloa (Hawai'i): "A kind of grass" (Poaceae).
 More of a puzzle, for which I would welcome a possible solution, is the intriguing assignment of the name tūtae kurī (dog ~) to species of grass in both Rarotonga (where it is the name of the invasive exotic Giant Parramatta
Grass, [11] Sporobolus fertilis (pictured on the left), and in Aotearoa (where it identifies the native blue wheat grass, Anthosachne kingiana subsp. multiflora as well as the comparatively recently naturalized Australian species, Anthrosachne scaber). Two Hawaiian names are also associated with grasses in a yet-to-be-discovered way: kūkae kōlea (Pacific Golden Plover ~) with Job's Tears, Coix lachryma-jobi, a 19th Century arrival common along streams and ditches, and also in disturbed forest, and kūkae koloa (Hawaiian duck ~), an un-named grass. Job's tears is a graceful grass often grown as an ornamental; it is also known as 'ohe'ohe. Its fruit (caryopses) could be thought of as elegant bird-droppings (see picture in the gallery, below), but the link with the kōlea is not so clear. The golden plover is a migrant bird and a metaphor for a boastful fellow, or a sojourner who enriches himself and takes off, leaving his mess behind him. The reference to the koloa however is for the moment too obscure to speculate on. Enquiries will proceed!
He mana nō te rangi: Tūtae whatitiri, tūtae whetū, tūtae kehua (Aotearoa) Ileodictyon cibarium (Phallaceae);
Tūtae atua (Aotearoa) Lycoperdon spp (Agaricaceae).
 This brings us back to tūtae fatitiri, for which there is a counterpart in Aotearoa, even though the Tuamotuan usage is a little more prosaic than the Māori.
A number of plants (or plant-related phenomena) and fungi which appear "out of the blue" or unexpectedly
are attributed to the actions of natural forces or invisible beings. Tūtae whatitiri (thunder ~. rather than tūtae merely bursting with a pop or crackle), the Māori counterpart of Tūtae fatitiri, belongs in this category; it signifies the basket fungus Ileodictyon cibarium, pictured in the gallery below, which normally appears after a thunderstorm. Its alternative names are tūtae whetū (star ~) and tūtae kēhua (goblin ~). Similarly the puff-ball fungi [12] (Lycoperdon spp.), illustrated on the left, are tūtae atua (spirit-being ~).
Tūtae as a link between East and West
Tūtae is a heritage word, ultimately from Proto-Austronesian
*Ca'i through Proto-Oceanic and Proto-Polynesian *ta'e, and Proto Eastern Polynesian *tūta'e, all including the core meaning of excrement, usually with the possibility of metaphorical extension in varying directions, including its use in plant names -- there are more such names in Eastern Polynesia in addition to those listed above. *Tūtae is one of the words which may provide evidence of a special link between Eastern Polynesian languages and those which are spoken in the Polynesian Outliers at the opposite side of the Polynesian Triangle, in the Solomon Islands and Micronesia, as it is reflected in the languages of Sikaiana, Kapingamarangi and Nukuoro, as well as most East Polynesian languages, but not in Samoan, Tuvalu, or Uvean. It should be noted that mushrooms, toadstools, and other fungi are technically not plants -- fungi have their own scientific kingdom, coordinate with those of plants and animals. However, for the purposes of Te Māra Reo, they are treated as honorary plants.
The numbered illustrations referred to in the various paragraphs were taken by the following people, to whom we are very grateful for their permission to use their work: [1] Jean François Butaud (French Polynesia); [2] & [12], R.B., Te Māra Reo; [3], [8], [9] Gerald McCormack, Cook Islands Natural History Project; [4], [5], [7] Forest and Kim Starr, Maui, Hawai'i; [6] Mike Thorsen, NZ Plant Conservation Network; [10] Paul Venter, South Africa, via Wikimedia; [11] Queensland Dept. of Agriculture & Fisheries. Those in the gallery are acknowledged in the captions.
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