Watch this space! This is one of the pages written in the prototype stage of this web site, which has been transferred with minimal changes to the newer format. It is still therefore "under construction", but contains the essential linguistic and botanical information, and both updated text and pictures will be added progressively as soon as time permits (new pages for plant names not yet discussed are being given priority). If you would like this page to be updated sooner than planned, please email a note to temaarareo at gmail.com.
The name kahika is an ancient one, which in most of the Austronesian languages in Oceania denotes the Malay Apple, Syzygium malaccense. This tree was either not brought to Aotearoa or would not grow here, but the name was applied directly and through names derived from it to several New Zealand plants (see links above). The one discussed on this page is the kahika or kahikatea ("white kahika", from the colour of the wood), along with the kauri an iconic New Zealand tree. The word kahika also denotes the flower of the rātā and other species of Metrosideros, and also is an alternative name for another iconic tree, the pohutukawa(Metrosideros excelsa).
The Kahikatea
The Kahikatea in Tradition and Everyday Life
 The Kahikatea
The kahikatea is Aotearoa's tallest tree, rising to over 60 metres in mature stands. It is a highly sociable creature, congregating in large, closely populated groups in damp and swamy places, supported on strong butress roots where the ground is regularly subject to inundation. It is found throughout New Zealand, but in many parts of the country only small remnants of the original forests remain; the most extensive and magnificent of these are now located on the West Coast of the South Island.
There is a thriving stand of kahikatea in the dampest part of Te Māra Reo. These trees were first planted out in as seedlings probably two years old in 2000, had a few fruit in 2008, then fruited profusely in 2009 and have produced varying amounts of fruit ever since (like many native trees, the productivity of the kahikatea varies from one season to the next). Individual trees, some of them the product of "volunteer" seedlings, are scattered throughout the garden.
MORE TO COME LATER!
The Kahikatea in Tradition and Everyday Life
 The very first reference to the kahika (kahikatea) in Ngata's Ngā Mōteatea gives us a strong clue as to why this tree might have been given its name -- like the *kafika, it bears a fruit delectable and esteemed. An unknown woman longing to attract a noble lover sings wistfully:
Kia parahua ai te ika ki te mōunu, ē,
Whai rawa atu nei, kore rawa e anga mai.
E tuia ana koe e te pua i te kahika, ē,
E te ora iti rā ....
Like a fish that nibbles at the bait,
Advances are made, but you will not respond
For you are drawn where the kahika berries abound
To the rare viands ....
[He Waiata Wawata mō Te Kaniatakirau, N.M. Vol 1, pp. 74-5]
In proverbs, it features both to encourage ambition ...
Iti te kōpara, kai tākirikiri ana i runga i te kahikatea.
Although the bellbird is small, he feedls unrestrainedly atop the kahikatea.
[M&G#908
... and to serve as a caution to the proud and overconfident:
He iti te mokoroa, näna i kākati te kahikatea
Although it's tiny, it was the huhu grub that felled the kahikatea. [The mokoroa is the larval stage of the huhu beetle, Prionoplus reticularis, which feeds on this and other forest trees. It's also good to eat, raw or cooked!]
[M&G, #418]
AGAIN, MORE TO COME LATER!
Dacryocarpus dacrydioidea - Kahikatea
(Kahikatea seeds with droops forming below them. Te Māra Reo.)
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Reserved for photograph - yet to come
(Aroha mai!) |
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