Dicksonia squarrosa < Species index > Dracophyllum filifolium
This article was first published in the Tararua Tramper Volume 94, # 10, November 2022
November in the hills with Michele Dickson, Chris Horne
Discaria toumatou, Tūmatakuru, Matagouri; Wild Irishman
Photo: Jeremy Rolfe
Origin of the botanical names
‘Discaria’ is derived from the Latin and Greek words ‘discus’ and ‘diskos’, meaning a ‘ring’, referring to the annular disc in the flower; toumatou is how speakers of English heard a South Island pronunciation of the Māori name tūmatakoura, and the word matagouri is another corruption of the shrub’s Māori name. Tūmatakuru is a member of the Rhamnaceae family.
Distribution and habitat
Matagouri is endemic to Aotearoa. It grows on Te Ika a Māui / North Island (uncommon now), and abundantly on Te Waipounamu / South Island, mainly east of the main divide, and on Wharekauri / Rekohu /Chatham Islands. It is found from north Waikato southwards on dunes, lowland and montane grassy flats, gullies and in scrub, often dominant and forming thickets.
Growth habit
Matagouri is a much-branched, often deciduous, grey, spiny shrub or tree up to 5 m tall, with rough grey bark. Stems and branches are stiff, branchlets are green, rounded and flexible, and all are divaricate / intertangled. Leaves are 10–20 mm long, oval-shaped, dark, glossy and leathery. They are opposite, sometimes in a little bundle and found at the base of rigid, opposite, sharp spines up to 5 cm long.
Reproduction
The flowers too are either solitary or in little bundles at the base of spines, alongside the leaves. They are white with yellow centres, 3-5 mm in diameter. The fruit is a dry capsule, globose with 3-lobes, about 5 mm long. The capsule lobes split open, each containing one seed. Seeds are dispersed by ballistic projection and water. Flowering is from October to January and fruiting from December to March.
Uses
The hard, woody spines were used by Māori for tattooing. Matagouri is sometimes used as a hedge plant. It also fixes atmospheric nitrogen, in the same manner as many plants of the pea family.
Where can you find matagouri?
Southern Wairarapa, Wellington coastline (uncommon), Rangitatau Reserve overlooking Strathmore (a few rather concealed plants) and on Te Waipounamu / South Island, mainly east of the main divide.
In The Hills 2022-10 < Index chronological > In The Hills 2022-12