*Tōtara [Proto Central Eastern Polynesian]

Tōtara

Podocarpus totara (Podocarpaceae), and a number of other trees and plants with prickly leaves.

Tui

Other species sharing the name Tōtara: (Podocarpus cunninghamii [Podocarpaceae]; Leupocogon fraseri [Ericaceae]; Polytrichum juniperinum [Polytrichaceae]), Libocedrus plumosa [Cupressaceae]; Pātōtara (Leptecophylla juniperina [Ericaceae]).

ETYMOLOGY:
From: Proto CENTRAL EASTERN POLYNESIAN: *Tōtara, Diodon hystrix (Diodontidae - a family of puffer fishes),
Reflecting PROTO OCEANIC *tara "barb, prong",
through PROTO EASTERN FIJIAN / POLYNESIAN *cala "sharp pointed object; sea urchin"
and PROTO POLYNESIAN *tala "sharp pointed object, spine, prong"

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Reserved for a photograph - X
(Watch this space!)
Aniwaniwa
Reserved for a photograph - X
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COGNATE WORDS IN SOME OTHER POLYNESIAN LANGUAGES
Tahitian: Tōtara (Diodon hystrix, "Puffer fish" [Diodontidae])
Hawaiian: Kōkala (D. hystrix)
Tuamotuan: Tōtara (D. hystrix)
Rarotongan: Tōtara (D. hystrix)

RELATED MĀORI PLANT NAMES
Kahikawaka (Libocedrus plumosa) (see the linked page for information about this name; there is information about the tree itself on this page.)


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 one of the more fully developed pages, but may have links that no longer work, or need further revision in other respects. Updated text and more or re-formatted 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.

Tōtara in Mäori is the name of one of the largest and most esteemed forest trees, Podocarpus totara. This species belongs to a group of trees, the araucarians, which have been growing in Aotearoa for at least 100,000,000 years. It is shared by the botanically closely related mountain tōtara, Podocarpus cunninghamii, and several other plants from different families: a low prostrate shrub of the heath family, Leupocogon fraseri, a moss, Polytrichum juniperinum, and another forest tree, tōtara kiri kōtukutuku Libocedrus plumosa (also known as kawaka). Podocarpus totara has male and female cones on different trees, and the female tree is known as kōtukutuku, possibly because the bark is similar to that of the Kōtukutuku, Fuchsia excorticata -- the alternative name name of the kawaka (Libocedrus), tōtara kiri kōtukutuku, literally means either "tōtara with the bark of a kōtukutuku", or possibly "tōtara with falling bark". Finally, another small heath, Leptecophylla juniperina, is known as pātōtara.

The name tötara itself is derived from a Proto Oceanic word for spines, and cognate words are used in other Central Eastern Polynesian languages as the name of the puffer fish. All the New Zealand plants bearing this name have pointed leaves reminiscent of the puffer fish's spiny exterior.

Podocarpus totara

Totara - AureaThis is the tree most closely associated with the name tōtara. It was (and remains) an extremely valuable forest tree, and was used for making seagoing canoes, carvings, and in the construction of large buildings. It is still the most sought-after timber for large carvings, and in the nineteenth and early twentieth century, until stocks became seriously depleted and conservation measures were finally implemeted, it also provided the wood for framing and joinery in thousands of new rural and urban houses throughout New Zealand. It grows up to 30m tall, and can live to 1,000 years or longer.

Because of its value and special properties the tōtara was also a symbol of nobility, chieftanship and social solidarity. The latter significance is the subject of many proverbs, for example:

He tōtara wāhi rua, he kai nā te toki.
[A tōtara split in two is food for the axe -- that is, a community whose leaders are at odds is in danger of being overcome by enemies or events. M&G #784]

Similarly,

E kore te tōtara e tū noa i te pārae engari me tū i roto i te wao-nui-a-Tāne
[The tōtara does not stand alone on the plain, it stands within the great forest. That is, a leader without followers and supporters cannot be effective. M&G #181]

And like the tōtara, the mighty can fall when they become overconfident:

He iti te matakahi pakaru rikiriki te tōtara
A wedge may be small, but it can reduce the tötara to splinters. M&G #431]

Spring growthIn laments, a child who has died is often referred to as he māhuri tōtara, "a tōtara sapling" which has been uprooted or broken off, or a similar idiom, as in this lament by the famous Ngāti Porou chief Te Kaniatakirau for his son, Waikari, believed to have been killed by mākutu (witchcraft):

... Ka hinga kai raro
Taku kōhuru tōtara.
Ehara i te tangata
Taku kuru hauhanga
Taku whakateitei
Ki ngā whenua, nā, ē.
... Now fallen and lies there prone
My once sturdy tōtara sapling
He was no ordinary mortal
My shelter from the bitter cold,
He was my renowned one
throughout the land, ah me..
.[NM 139, V.2, pp.190-1]]

And in oratory, the death of a notable person is often announced or referred to as the falling of a tōtara in te wao-nui-a-Tāne, the great forest of Tāne.

In some traditions, the parentage or tutelage of the tōtara is attributed to a personification of the war god Tū, as Tū-kau-moana, "Tū who swims through the sea" -- a reference to the tōtara as the ideal timber for ocean-going canoes, and also, indirectly, a closing of the circle back to the puffer fish.

L fraseriLeucopogon fraseri

This is a prostrate shrub which keeps very close to the ground and often forms quite large patches in open places from coastal dunes to rocky patches on mountainsides. In recent years it has attracted attention as a rock garden plant. The Waitakere City Council has recommended it as potential cover for "greenroofs". Its versatility is attested by the descriptive adjuncts often appended to its name: tōtara papa "ground-covering tōtara", tōtara pārae "tōtara of the open country", and tōtara tāhuna "seaside tōtara".

Leptecophylla juniperina

This ground-hugging shrub grows to about half a metre tall and is quite closely related to the Leucopogon (both species have been shifted in and out of the genera Leucopogon and Cyathodes, and, for L. fraseri, back again) by botanists, as members of a family Epacridaceae which is now merged with the wider heath family, Ericaceae). It was recognized by Māori, particularly in the South Island, as having special medicinal properties, with decoctions of the leaves used for kidney problems, asthma and rheumatism. Murdoch Riley also reports that the wood was used for sinkers on eel bobs in Southland, and eels seizing the sinkers were quickly landed and dispatched with the same utensils. It is undoubtedly the shape and prickliness of the leaves which earned it the name pātōtara (it also goes under the alternative names mingimingi, mikimiki, tūmingimingi, hukihukiraho, and ngohungohu). There are links to more information at the bottom of this page.

Libocedrus plumosaKawaka

Kawaka detailThis tree is generally known as kawaka, an abbreviation of an alternative name, kaikawaka, which in turn is an abbreviated form of its full name. kahikawaka, which looks suspiciously like a form of a much older word kahika (follow the link for more about that), and waka "canoe". It is another giant forest tree, but one which seems to flourish best (in terms of providing new generations) after calamities like fire, earthquakes or volcanic eruptions. Fortunately, individual trees may live as long as 1,000 years and reach 25 metres in height, so the calamaties do not have to be frequent to guarantee the tree's natural survival. There are links to more information and excellent photographs of this tree at the bottom of this page. As you can see from the enlarged photo of the leaflets (above, right), the resemblence to the puffer fish and its leafy namesakes is evident on this tree, too. The kahikawaka has an alternative name, tōtara kiri kōtukutuku, mentioned above. This probably related to the similarity of the bark of both the tōtara and, especially, the kahikawaka to that of the tree fuchsia, Fuchsia excorticata -- kōtukutuku, which may have gained its Maori name name from the way it "lets go" (tukutuku) of its bark. Certainly, all three trees share this quality.

Polytrichum juniperinum

Again, the spines of the puffer fish come to the fore when one tries to account for the word tōtara's being adopted as the name for this plant (in this case, the only name, as far as I am aware). It is not a tree, or even a dwarf shrub, but rather a kind of moss. It is another NZ native plant that is coming to its own as a ground cover as it will grow in a range of habitats, although, like most mosses, it prefers the shade. There is a good photograph of a "flowering" (i.e. spore-bearing) plant and information about this and related species on the Auckland University's web site -- see link below.

Links: Here are a few of the web sites with informative pages on the plants noted here:
There are some very good photographs of Podocarpus totara and the other plants mentioned on this page on the University of Auckland's School of Biological Science's pages, and the NZ Plant Conservation Network's pages include a large gallery of photographs along with additional information about these trees.
The website of the Supporters of Tiritirimatangi had a photograph of Leptecophylla (ex Cyathodes) juniperina which clearly shows its "needle-sharp leaves" [link not active 2023];
There is a great deal of information about Libocedrus plumosa on the NZ Plant Conservation network's site, and also on that of the Department of Conservation ;
The Royal NZ Institute of Horticulture has information about Leucopogon fraseri ;
and some detailed information about the structure of Polytrichum juniperinum and its close relatives is also to found on the University of Auckland site.

 

Patotara
Pātōtara (Leptecophylla juniperina)
Photo from the University of Tasmania's Plant Science web pages
Totara (moss)
Yet another Tōtara (Polytrichum juniperinum)
Photo from the Hidden Forest site
References and further reading: More later. Meanwhile see the general works on NZ trees and plants in the bibliography. Websites with information on New Zealand plants include Robert Vennell's The Meaning of Trees, the New Zealand Plant Conservation Network, and the Landcare / Manaaki Whenua NZ Flora database, all of which have links to other sources of information. The University of Auckland School of Biological Sciences also has an excellent website dedicated to New Zealand native plants. The Cook Island Biodiversity Network Database and Wikipedia are good places to start looking for information about the tropical plants.

Photographs: The inset photos are [1] "Golden" foliaged tōtara (Podocarpus totara v. aurea), and [2] P. totara mature foliage and spring growth, Te Māra Reo; [3] Tōtara papa (Leupogon fraseri), Photo: NZ Institute of Horticulture; [4] Kahikawaka (Libocedrus plumosa), also known as tōtara, Photo: Department of Conservation; [5] Detail of leaflets of Kahikawaka (Libocedrus plumosa), Photo: Larry Jensen, University of Auckland. The other photographs are acknowledged in the captions. We are grateful to all the photographers for permission to use their work.

Citation: This page may be cited as: R. A. Benton (2012) "The Māori plant name Tōtara" (web page periodically updated), Te Māra Reo. "http://www.temarareo.org/TMR-Totara.html" (Date accessed)

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Te Mära Reo, c/o Benton Family Trust, "Tumanako", RD 1, Taupiri, Waikato 3791, Aotearoa / New Zealand. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 New Zealand License