Phyllocladus trichomanoides < Species index > Pittosporum eugenioides
This article was first published in the Tararua Tramper Volume 95, # 4, May 2023
May in the hills with Michele Dickson, Chris Horne
Piper excelsum subsp. excelsum, Kawakawa, pepper tree
Photo: Jeremy Rolfe
Names
'Piper' is derived from the Greek word 'peperi’ for pepper; 'excelsum' is derived from the Latin 'excelsus' meaning lofty, high. The genus has previously been described as ‘Macropiper’. Kawakawa is a member of the pepper family - the Piperaceae. It is related to the kavakava tree used in the Pacific to produce kava - the ritual intoxicating drink, and to Piper nigrum, the peppercorns of which give us common pepper.
Distribution and habitat
Kawakawa is endemic to Aotearoa / New Zealand. It grows in lowland forests on Te Ika a Maui North Island up to about 500 m. altitude. On Te Waipounamu / South Island it grows in coastal areas as far south as Banks Peninsula, on the West Coast as far south as Ōkarito and on Rekohu / Chatham Islands.
Growth habit
Kawakawa is an aromatic, hairless shrub or tree up to 6 m or more tall with zigzag, jointed branches which are swollen at the nodes. The trunk can be up to 6 cm diameter and has smooth dark bark. A single kawakawa may have several trunks. The leaf arrangement is usually alternate, with stalks / petioles 1-4 cm long that have a scale-like stipule at the base. The thin, dark to yellowish-green, heart-shaped, peppery-tasting leaves are 5-10 x 6-12 cm, with smooth edges and are slightly leathery, with prominent veins. The leaves provide food for the larvae of the nocturnal native kawakawa moth – Cleoria scriptaria. The caterpillars feed at night and then hide during the day somewhere on the plant or in leaf litter on the forest floor.
Reproduction
Kawakawa’s flowers and fruit can appear in any season in the North Island; in the South Island flowering occurs in spring and summer and fruiting in summer and autumn. The tiny female and male flowers, which are grouped very closely on slender, erect, candle-like inflorescences up to 11 cm long, appear on separate plants. The female fruit, a coalescence of the tiny flowers and orange when ripe, are distributed by birds.
Uses
Māori use branches of kawakawa to lift the tapu on new meeting houses and for blessing new waka, and burn the wet leaves and branches to protect kūmara crops from damage by insects. If you have toothache, chew a kawakawa leaf. To make a tasty tea, crush a few leaves into a teapot, add boiling water and allow the mixture to steep a while. Eat the ripe orange fruit but spit out the seeds. Cover a wound with a kawakawa leaf. Burn leaves on your campfire to deter mosquitoes and sand-flies.
Where can you find kawakawa?
Look for it in reserves on Wellington hills including Ōtari-Wilton's Bush and reserves in Tawa, in East Harbour Regional Park and in the Tararua and Remutaka ranges.
In The Hills 2023-04 < Index chronological > In The Hills 2023-06