Watch this space! This is one of the pages written in 2010, in the prototype stage of this web site, which has been transferred with minimal changes to the newer format. It is still therefore still at least partly "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.
 In Aotearoa probable reflexes of the Proto Eastern Polynesian word for the banana cultivars which were introduced to the region by the early Polynesian settlers, *maika, have been applied to several orchid species with edible tubers. Since apparently the palatability of these tubers is improved by cooking, the transfer of the name of the cooking banana to its miniature substitutes seems quite appropriate. It also gives us a good excuse to feature pictures of some more New Zealand ground orchids on these pages.
The names māikaika and māmāika are used primarily for the "sun orchids", Thelymitra pauciflora (also known as māika), T. pulchella, and T. longifolia (also known as maikuku). The name māikaika is also shared with the "onion orchid", Microtis unifolia. All these orchids are plants of open country and clay banks; Threlymitra pulchella also grows on gumland and in boggy places. The Microtis has a single, long, tubular leaf and a slim flower stalk that can be anything from 10 cm to a metre tall, bearing very small, inconspicuous green flowers. The Thelymitras have much more attractive and relatively larger flowers (up to about 15 mm long), with variable flowering stems, which can be as short as 5 cm T. pauciflora and T. longifolia, and up to 50cm or so high in all three species. The photographs reproduced here show the beauty of the flowers but are several times life size! The photograph of the "onion orchid" was actually taken in Japan, as this is a cosmopolitan species growing natively in Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, China and Japan as well as Aotearoa.
The words māikaika and māmāika also designate the orchids Orthoceras strictum and O. novaezeelandiae, whose roots are among those known as para (those orchids are described on the page for that heritage name).
Finally, the name māika kā is sometimes given to the rengarenga, Arthropodium cirrhatum, a plant once grouped with the lilies, but now a member of the asparagus family (Asparagaceae), bearing another heritage name and also having edible tubers which required cooking before being eaten.
Diagram of structure of Thelymitra spp. - Māika,Māikaika
(Deposited in Wikipedia Commons by Lewis Roberts.)
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Microtis unifolia - Māikaika
(Tanabe City, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. Photo: "Keisotyo", via Wikimedia) |
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Photographs: The inset photo is of Thelymitra pulchella by Michael Pratt. The photograph of Microtis unifolia, which shows just the kind of environment you are likely to find it in here, was taken in Tanabe City, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, by "Keisotyo". It is in the Wikipedia Commons collection. The Thelymitra chart was deposited by Lewis Roberts on the same site.The other photographs are by members of the NZ Native Orchid Group. We are grateful to all the photographers for making their work available.
Citation: This page may be cited as: R. A. Benton (2010) "The Māori plant names Māikaika and variants" (web page periodically updated), Te Māra Reo. "http://www.temarareo.org/TMR-Maikaika.html" (Date accessed)
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