Carex uncinata < Species index > Clematis forsteri
This article was first published in the Tararua Tramper Volume 94, # 1, February 2022
February in the hills with Michele Dickson, Chris Horne
Carpodetus serratus, Putaputawētā, marble leaf
Photo: Jeremy Rolfe
Origin of the botanical, te reo and common names
‘Carpodetus’ is derived from the Greek words ‘carpos’ meaning ‘fruit’ and 'detos’ meaning ‘bound together’, referring to the fruit capsule being bound together by part of the calex limb; ‘serratus’ comes from the Latin word ‘serratus’ meaning shaped like a saw. The species is a member of the Rousseaceae family. The te reo name, putaputawētā, means ‘wētā holes’. The holes are created in the trunks of the trees by caterpillars of pūriri moths. Wētā may occupy those holes after the moths have left. 'Marble leaf' refers to the mottled appearance of each leaf.
Distribution and habitat
Putaputawētā is endemic to Aotearoa. It grows in coastal and lowland forests and on stream-sides on Te Ika a Māui / North Island, Te Waipounamu / South Island and Rakiura / Stewart Island.
Growth habit
Putaputawētā is a tree that grows to 10 m or more tall. The trunk, up to 20 cm or more in diameter, is often covered by lichens and riddled with holes made by caterpillars of pūriri moths. The bark is brown. The branches of saplings and young trees may be in horizontal tiers. Young plants have slender, zigzag branchlets which are almost entangled / divaricating. The adult leaves are 4-6 x 2-3 cm, ovate or broadly elliptic, thinly leathery, finely serrate and often beautifully mottled, sometimes yellowish, with the green, darker primary and side veins clearly evident. The leaves grow on slender stalks / petioles about 1 cm long.
Reproduction
The sweet-smelling flowers, 5-6 mm across, appear in branched groups. The petals are white, oval-shaped and 3-4 mm long. Flowering is from November to March. The spherical fruit, changing from green to dark purple then black when ripe, appear from January to April or even as late as August. The ripe, dry capsule releases small seeds when it decays or after being eaten by birds.
Uses
The ripe black fruit of putaputawētā have been used to make a dye to colour wool. A chrome mordant with the fruit produces a green dye. The wood, strong and elastic, was valued by early settlers for making tool handles, fence railings and furniture.
Where can you find putaputawētā?
Look for it in reserves in Wellington and the Hutt Valley, and in the Remutaka, Tararua and Aorangi ranges.
In The Hills 2021-12 < Index chronological > In The Hills 2022-03