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In The Hills In The Hills 2023-04

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This article was first published in the Tararua Tramper Volume 95, # 3, April 2023

April in the hills with Michele Dickson, Chris Horne

Schefflera digitata Patē, patatē, seven-finger

patate.jpg: 565x800, 285k (2023 Apr 05 10:24)
Schefflera digitata Patē, patatē, seven-finger
Photo: Jeremy Rolfe

Names

'Schefflera' is derived from the name of the botanist J. C. Scheffler, author of Flora of Danzig, published 1764 - 1766; 'digitata' is derived from the Latin words ‘digitus’ for finger and ‘digitatus’, meaning divided into finger-like parts, referring to the palmate leaf. Patē or patatē are the te reo Māori names. The Schefflera genus is a member of the Araliaceae family, commonly called ‘araliads’, with members common in southeast Asia. In New Zealand the family is represented by twenty-one native species.

Distribution and habitat

Patē is endemic to New Zealand. It grows on Te Ika a Māui / North Island, Te Waipounamu / South Island and Rakiura / Stewart Island. Look for it in lowland to montane forest, sites along streams and forest margins.

Growth habit

Patē is a small tree to 8 m tall. The slightly ridged trunk has prominent cork-like lenticels with a greenish bark. The branches are stout. The palmate, compound leaves, each divided into 7 - 9 leaflets, have reddish petioles / stalks up to 25 cm long, and the petiolules / leaflet stalks are up to 2 cm long. The leaflets are thin with finely serrated edges. The shape is ovate to wedge-shaped, pointed at the tip and gradually and evenly narrowing to the base. The terminal leaflet is up to 20 cm long, the others decreasing in size towards the petiole. Juvenile leaflets are sometimes irregularly lobed, especially in the north of the North Island. Patē is browsed by goats and possums.

Reproduction

Patē flowers and fruits from February to March. Small cream to green flowers, up to 7 mm diameter, appear in tiny short-stalked umbels along drooping branches of many-branched palmate bunches. The spreading branches may be up to 35 cm long. Pate may have male and female separate flowers on separate plants or on some plants the flowers are initially male and much later become female, with the female parts developing after the anthers and the petals have fallen. The fruit are subglobose, ranging in colour from white to purple-flecked to dark violet, fleshy when ripe and up to 3.5 mm in diameter. The fruits contain about 7 – 10 seeds, which are dispersed when the fruits are eaten by birds.

Uses

The dark juice of berries has been used as a dye and writing ink. The wood was used to obtain fire by friction and used as a base wood. An adze socket and a teka / dart made of patē have been found among museum artefacts. The sap and leaves have been used on skin sores and ringworm.

Where can you find patē?

Look for patē / seven-finger in reserves on Wellington hills including Ōtari-Wilton's Bush and reserves in Tawa, in East Harbour Regional Park, Mangaroa Valley and in the Tararua, Remutaka and Aorangi ranges.

Category
Botany 2022

In The Hills 2023-03 < Index chronological > In The Hills 2023-05

Page last modified on 2023 Apr 05 10:23

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