TREE OF THE MONTH

- Pūriri.

Pūriri in the wild

Pūriri is the only member of its genus in New Zealand, and is only found in the north of the country. Furthest north, it tends to the fertile basaltic soils, along with taraire and karaka; further south near Raglan and the Bay of Plenty it sticks to coastal forest along with pōhutukawa. You’ll see plenty of pūriri on the smaller Hauraki Gulf islands, at times even dominating the canopy.

Pūriri was once considered an indicator of soils suitable for agriculture, so much of the best pūriri habitat has been cleared for farming.

Growing habit

Pūriri is a strong looking tree with its muscular trunk and thick head of vital green leaves, flowers and berries. The Latin species name lucens means shining, a good descriptor for the glossy, dark green leaves.

It’s a large tree sometimes exceeding 20m in height, so is one for ambitious gardeners only!

The distinctive pūriri flowers are typically pink and bell-shaped, up to 3cm long; very occasionally you’ll find a white-flowered specimen. Unusually, the flowers (along with the red cherry-like fruits) are borne throughout most of the year, but are most prolific from late autumn to early spring. They are rather like large snapdragon blooms and are a favourite of nectar-loving birds.

Care & maintenance

Pūriri’s preference for the north of the country is a clue to its care requirements: the seedlings and saplings are frost tender, and need a sheltered, warm and preferably semishaded site. A rich, fertile soil is best to help it thrive.

Once established, though, it’s a hardy tree which can tolerate a range of conditions, including drought.

Best way to propagate

Pūriri seeds can be tricky to germinate. Humidity and warmth seem to help. They can be grown from cuttings.

Puriri trees are adept at sending new shoots straight up from fallen trunks and forming a new tree many metres away from the original stump.

Whakapapa & rongoā

Pūriri leaves are commonly used in rongoā. Records show they were boiled as concoctions for sore throats or baths for sprains, muscular or backaches in it. Apparently, one of the chemical constituents of pūriri leaves has even been patented as a germicide.

Pūriri groves – especially trees with hollows – have often been used by Māori to entomb the remains of the dead.

The leaves and their juices are also both used in the burial process, and because of these close associations with death, pūriri trees are tapu (sacred).

When the mist drifts through the bush in the morning, it is easy to get that feeling.

Pūriri is my favourite timber

It is one of our hardest, heaviest and most durable timbers (with tropical hardwood cousins). It cuts like butter when green, but blunts tools quickly when dry. Its interlocked grain makes it strong, even in thin dimensions, and it has a distinctive smell while being worked. The colour ranges from greeny greys and smokey browns to dark chocolate, even almost ebony-black.

Unfortunately, it is hard to find clear-grade timber free from little-finger sized holes left behind by the larvae of the pūriri moth.

Pūriri can grow quickly, and if located in a canopy gap, can shoot up with a straight, tall trunk. But best of all, when mature, apart from providing plenty of bird food and nectar, the falling leaves create rich dark humus – a kind of soil conditioner for all plants around it to enjoy.

I heard Geoff Wightman (who founded the Waimate North Landcare Trust almost 20 years ago to help their kiwi, native wildlife and forests thrive over around 9000ha in the mid north) say he thinks of pūriri as a kind tree and giving tree. I like that description and since then, that is how I have thought of them too.