Pseudopanax arboreus < Species index > Pseudowintera axillaris
This article was first published in the Tararua Tramper Volume 93, # 8, September 2021
September in the hills with Michele Dickson, Chris Horne
Pseudopanax crassifolius, horoeka, Lancewood
Photo: Jeremy Rolfe
Origin of the botanical names
‘Pseudopanax’ is derived from the Greek words ‘pseudo’ meaning ‘false’, ‘pan’ meaning ‘all’, and ’akos’ meaning ‘remedy’, referring to the medicinal plant ‘ginseng’, which is also in this genus; ‘crassifolius’ comes from the Latin words ‘crassus’ meaning ‘thick’ and ‘folium’ meaning ‘leaf’. The Pseudopanax genus is a member of the Araliaceae family, commonly called ‘araliads’, with members common in southeast Asia. In Aotearoa the family is represented by twenty-one native species.
Distribution and habitat
P. crassifolius is endemic to Aotearoa. It grows on Te Ika a Māui / North Island, Te Waipounamu / South Island and Rakiura / Stewart Island. Look for lancewood in shrubland and in lowland to lower montane forest up to ca. 750 m.
Growth habit
Lancewood is an outstanding example of a species with dramatically different juvenile, intermediate and adult forms. Early botanists named them as separate species! It becomes a tree up to 15 m tall with a trunk up to 50 cm diameter. The leaves of seedlings vary from dark green to mottled white and brown. In the long-lasting juvenile form, the stem is unbranched, with very thick, rigid, leathery, linear leaves 1 cm wide and 15-60 cm long which hang down. The edges of these leaves have small sharp teeth. Between 15 and 20 years of age, when the tree is 4-5 m tall, it begins to change completely. The trunk of young trees has mottled, rope-like bark with horizontal lines of corky lenticels through which gases pass. The juvenile trunk begins to develop branches and the head of the tree becomes rounded. The leaves of the adult tree are 10–20 cm long and 2-3 cm wide, thick and tough, pointing upwards, and sometimes without teeth. The mid-rib and underside are pale.
Reproduction
Lancewood’s small greenish-yellow, bisexual flowers, ca. 4 mm in diameter, grow in clusters on the ends of branchlets. Birds and bees pollinate the flowers. The fruit, 5 mm diameter, dark purple to black, form in clusters / umbels, from January to April. They are eaten by birds, which spread the seeds.
Uses
Māori used the stem of young trees, sharpened to a point then hardened in a fire to make a lance to spear kererū. They made tokotoko / walking sticks by tying a loop ca. 1.5 m up a living sapling, then waiting for the sapling to become sturdy enough to cut it off at ground level – as seen by CH in Warawara Forest, Far North in 1989. Early Pākehā settlers used the strong midribs of young leaves as bootlaces and for repairing bridles and harnesses and used the flexible trunks as stock and horsewhips.
Where can you find horoeka / lancewood?
Look for it in Wellington reserves and patches of bush, and in the Akatarawa, Tararua, Remutaka and Aorangi ranges.
Browsing by moa
This has been proposed as a reason for the great variability of the leaves. The toughness, length and sharp teeth of juvenile leaves would’ve made them difficult to swallow.
Hybridisation
This occurs as a result of Pseudopanax lessonii / coastal five-finger / houpara, a related species from Northland / Te Tai Tokerau, being planted in gardens in our region. The result is a confusing variety of leaf forms – some rather like juvenile lancewood, others rather like Pseudopanax arboreus - our local five-finger. See Tramper, August 2021.
In The Hills 2021-08 < Index chronological > In The Hills 2021-10