Aristotelia fruticosa < Species index > Asplenium bulbiferum
This article was first published in the Tararua Tramper Volume 92, # 8, September 2020
September in the hills with Chris Horne, Michele Dickson
Aristotelia serrata(approve sites), makomako, wineberry
Photo: Jeremy Rolfe
Origin of the botanical name
Aristotelia is named after the Greek philosopher and naturalist Aristotle (384-322 BC); serrata comes from the Latin word ‘serratus’, meaning ‘shaped like a saw’. Makomako is a member of the Elaeocarpaceae family, a mostly tropical family, represented in Aotearoa/New Zealand by the genera Elaeocarpus and Aristotelia with two species. Photo: Jeremy Rolfe
Distribution and habitat
Makomako is endemic to New Zealand. It is found on Te Ika a Māui/North Island, on Te Waipounamu/South Island and on Rakiura/Stewart Island in lowland to montane forests. It is common throughout but less common in drier areas. In second growth and bush clearings it is common, especially after fire.
Growth habit
Makomako is a fast-growing, much-branched small tree up to about 10 m tall with a trunk up to 30 cm in diameter and long, upright branches. The smooth grey or pale brown bark is spotted with lenticels. The branchlets are light to dark red and covered in short, soft hairs. The leaves are opposite or subopposite, 5–12 x 4–8 cm, thin and oval to heart-shaped with long, slender stalks up to 5 cm long. The margins are sharply and irregularly serrate. Coloured light or dark green above, they are often flushed with pink or purple on the paler underside. The veins are obvious and raised below. Juvenile leaves tend to be larger than adult leaves. Makomako is deciduous – it loses most or all of its leaves in winter.
Reproduction
Flowering occurs from October to December with male and female flowers on separate plants. The flowers are rose-coloured, 4-6 mm long, with lobed petals, not unlike the white flowers of hīnau and pōkaka. They hang on slender stalks to make up many-flowered bunches 6-10 cm long.
The fruits, which develop from November to January, are fleshy berries, 4-5 mm diameter and dark wine-red or almost black. Each berry contains about eight irregularly angled seeds, 2–3 mm in size.
Uses
Rongoā/medicinal uses include: boiling bark for rheumatism; boiling leaves to make a solution for burns, rheumatism, sore eyes and boils; warming leaves to use as a bandage for burns; an infusion of bark soaked in cold water for eyes. The berries were eaten, especially by children, or squeezed to produce the thick fluid to make a sweetish drink.
The bark provided a blue-black dye when bruised and steeped in water. The light, white wood is liable to break. Its uses included: poles for fishing–net handles; sticks used in various games; saplings for stilts; to make poi, a light ball with a string attached, twirled to accompany a song. Charcoal made from the wood has been used to make gunpowder. The bark can be used for small water vessels.
Where can you find makomako?
Look for it in and around the edges of bush reserves in Wellington City, Te Kopahou Reserve, Makara, East Harbour Regional Park, Western and Eastern Hutt Hills, Porirua Scenic Reserve,, Rangituhi/Colonial Knob Scenic Reserve and in the Akatarawa, Tararua, Remutaka and Aorangi ranges.
In The Hills 2020-08 < Index chronological > In The Hills 2020-10