Passiflora tetrandra < Species index > Pellaea rotundifolia
This article was first published in the Tararua Tramper Volume 94, # 9, October 2022
October in the hills with Michele Dickson, Chris Horne
Passiflora tetrandra, Kōhia, NZ passion fruit, NZ passion flower
Origin of the botanical names
Passiflora meaning ‘passion flower’ is derived from Church Latin – 'passio' meaning 'suffering' and 'flos' meaning 'flower'; 'tetrandra', meaning 'with four stamens' is derived from the Greek words 'tetra', meaning 'four' and 'andros’, meaning 'man'. The genus is a member of the Passifloraceae family, which in Aotearoa / New Zealand is also represented by the introduced tasty black passionfruit and the weedy vines / lianes banana passionfruit and blue passion flower.
Distribution and habitat
Kōhia (one of twelve recorded te reo names) is endemic to Aotearoa / New Zealand. It is found on the margins of lowland forests from near North Cape in Te Ika a Māui / North Island and in Te Waipounamu / South Island to as far south as Banks Peninsula and Haast.
Growth habit
Kōhia is a soft-wooded, hairless vine / liane growing up to 20 m tall with circular, flexible branches and very flexible branchlets. The stem can be over 10 cm diameter, often forming tortuous coils on the forest floor. To climb other plants, kōhia uses very slender, curled tendrils up to 10 cm long, which wrap around part of a supporting plant. The leaves are pointed, 5-10 x 2-3 cm, alternate on the branches and are on petioles / stalks up to 2 cm long. The leaves are smooth-edged, leathery, dark green and glossy above and paler below. The leaf margins may be wavy.
Reproduction
Female and male flowers are small and insignificant and appear on separate plants. The flower parts – sepals and petals - are yellowish green, with the male flowers displaying numerous long white filaments / stalks of the pollen-bearing parts. Flowering and fruiting is from October to March. The orange fruit is more or less spherical, 2.5 cm in diameter. The black seeds are embedded in a red pulp on reddish arils / stalks.
Uses
Māori: used kōhia vines when building fences, house frameworks and platforms; used the slow-burning main stem to carry fire from place to place; crushed, steamed and pressed the seeds to obtain oil, called hinu kōhia, to which they added leaves from other aromatic plants to create perfumed, soothing body oils; used the oil on sores and wounds; and used the gum which exudes from a cut stem to make face paint and chewing gum. The fruit is edible but not tasty. Birds eat the fruit as do possums, rats and mice. Look for the opened skin of fallen fruit on tracks when you are tramping.
Where can you find kōhia?
Look for it in Ōtari-Wilton's Bush and most mature Wellington bush reserves, regional parks and in the Remutaka, Aorangi, Akatarawa and Tararua ranges.
In The Hills 2022-09 < Index chronological > In The Hills 2022-11