Pukatea

Pukatea tree on the lodge road The main tunk is dead and the leaves are on a surviving branch

Laurelia novae-zelandiae

Pukatea grows throughout the North Island, at the very north tip of the South Island. Tends to be under 600m in Northland

Pukatea of the Tangihua forest are found…

On the road side in the Nature trail. They are not commonly found.

Pukatea Description.

Pukatea will grow up to 40m making it one of the taller forest trees. It is a slow growing tree. Pukatea trunk can be up to 2m round and has thin bark and a pale brownish-grey trunk with a buttress formation at the base. Buttresses are triangular flanges extend up the trunk and along the roots support the tree’s growth in swamp or shallow-soil areas. No other New Zealand trees have buttresses which make Pukatea distinct.

Pukatea has a specialised respiratory root structure called pneumatophores (roots above the ground) in certain waterlogged ground or mud.

Leaves

Pukatea leaves are glossy, bright green on top and pale underneath. They are 4-8cm long x 2.5-5cm wide, thick leathery with an shape elliptic and coarse blunt serrations on the edges. They are opposite on the branchlet.

Flowers and seeds

The Pukatea is unusual in that it is mostly but not always dioecious (Male and female flowers on separate trees) and can have both sexes on the same tree, and occasionally together on the same flower.

Pukatea have small (6mm) green flowers on flower stalks up to 3cm long during October to November. After flowering, it develops urn-shaped seed cases up to 2.5cm long which split and release hair-covered seeds which are dispersed by the wind with a tendency to regenerates profusely close to seed trees and under moderate shade.

Forest Role

Threats and conservation

Maori usage

Maori used the timber to create figureheads for canoes. It is light, strong and will ding rather than break.

Maori also used pukatea for several medicinal purposes, it containing an alkaloid related to morphine although without the side effects of that drug. Because of these analgesic properties the pulped inner bark was used to relieve toothache and a decoction of bark boiled in water was used for ulcers, skin complaints generally and syphilis.

The bark and dried leaves have proven poisonous to sheep and rats so care must be taken if pukatea is to be used medicinally.