Towhai or Tawhero

Weinmannia silvicola

Towhai or Tawhero is Endemic to NZ and has similar tree south of Auckland the kamahi Weinmannia racemosa

Towhai is found

Along the nature trail. They are second serial regenerative plants and there is one growing on a Kauri stump. See picture

Towhai Description

Towhai grows up to 15 metres tall or more, with a trunk up to 1 metre in diameter. The bark is smooth. The young twigs and leaves are hairy.

Small tree with a blotched trunk bearing leaves consisting of three bluntly-toothed leaflets (lowest pair much smaller) and spikes of small white bristly flowers inhabiting northern North Island. Leaf stem grooved on top, slightly hairy (lens needed). Juveniles with up to nine pairs of leaflets, reddish underneath.

Towhai leaves

Towhai has a number of leaf variations.

Adult

The leaves of adult trees are 4-7cm long by 2-3cm wide and are thick and leathery. The surface is green, shiny with leaf margins that are bluntly toothed. The leaves on mature trees comprise of up to five adjacent pairs of leaflets plus one relatively large terminal leaflet.

Juvenile

The juvenile trees have a great variety of leaf forms which adds to the confusion with Weinmannia racemosa and Ackama rosifolia (Makamaka). It can be distinguished from Ackama rosifolia by the lack of domatia on the underside of the leaves and they also have narrow, linear stipules (small leaf like appendage to a leaf, typically borne in pairs at the base of the leaf stalk.) that fall off early.

Towhai Flowers

Flowering occurs spring to early summer and the white inflorescence are at the branch tips and are 8-12 cm. long racemes holding the individual flowers on pedicels that are 2-3mm long. These flowers are not overly perfumed. The capsules ripen through summer.

The dry capsules release tiny seeds which are dispersed by the wind.

Significance to Maori

Maori use to infuse the Towhai bark in boiling water, this was use it for skin diseases.

They would scrape off the rough outside bark from side of tree facing sun and use the clean inner bark. This they would hammer put it into a billy and boil it for about half an hour. The liquid was strained through a clean cloth. The cut was bathed with this liquid then bandaged it. Some times raupo was used as a bandage. It is said the treatment did not to leave a scar. The bark contains large amounts of tannins (was used in tanning) and was also used for dyeing.