Tanekaha

The photo is seedling regenerating under forest cover in open ground after 4 years of pest control

Phyllocladus trichomanoides – Celery pine – Endemic to NZ

Tanekaha is common in the Tangihua forest

Tanekaha can grow up to 20 metres tall with trunk of up to 1 metre in diameter reaching maturity between 200 & 500 years.
The bark is a reddish-brown on older trees, but a more greenish-grey on younger ones.

Flowers and leaves

The leaves are flattened branches packed full of photosynthetic materials and are called Cladodes. They are 1cm – 2.5cm long, alternate, thick, glabrous and short-stemmed.

The female flowers are produced in clusters on the margins of the modified cladodes near the tip of the branchlets. The Tanekaha flowers between October and January.

The compressed nut half projects beyond its fleshy cupsule (a cup-shaped whorl of hardened, cohering bracts, as in the acorn.) grows to only 3mm in length, ripening around the month of April.

Significance to Maori

Tanekaha is one of the strongest and most flexible of native timbers and Maori made fairly extensive use of tanekaha. It was used to make spears such as the 2m long double pointed spear, koikoi. It was used in waka, masts, paddles, bowls, clubs, spears and walking sticks. The tough durable wood made an excellent fishing material. Young twigs were carved into fish hooks and longer branches were used as fishing rods and nets.
Other Maori uses were in canoe and house structure. The bark was used as a source of red dye. Tanekaha was also used medicinally as a liver tonic and treatment of dysentery and vomiting.

Europeans used Tanekaha for

Its strength meant it was also useful for early Europeans as sleepers, marine piles, pit props, bridge decking and heavy roof timbers. The same properties which made it excellent for fish hooks etc made it for agricultural machinery like hay sweeps and joinery.

Below are photos of the distinctive trunk often with a Black stain coming from the trunk has been damaged

referances

• ArbortechniX
• The meaning of trees plus