''Freycinetia banksii'', also known as kiekie, is a densely branched, brittle, woody climber native to

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. It is a member of the screwpalm family

Pandanaceae Pandanaceae is a family of flowering plants native to the tropics and subtropics of the Old World, from West Africa to the Pacific. It contains 982 known species in five genera, of which the type genus, ''Pandanus'', is the most important, with s ...

Description

''Freycinetia banksii'' is a densely branched woody climber, with numerous cane-like stems up to in diameter, which freely produce aerial roots. It climbs tree trunks, or forms dense tangles on the forest floor. Its stems and leaves are a dominant feature in many areas of New Zealand forest, the stems eventually reaching up to long. The

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

are long and slender, long and broad. The plant has white edible flower bracts and long pineapple-like fruit with rough skin and a sweet pink pulp.

Taxonomy and etymology

The species was first described in 1837 by Allan Cunningham Cunningham named the species after

Joseph Banks Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English Natural history, naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences. Banks made his name on the European and American voyages of scientific exploration, 1766 natural-history ...

, the botanist aboard the

First voyage of James Cook The first voyage of James Cook was a combined Royal Navy and Royal Society expedition to the south Pacific Ocean aboard HMS Endeavour, HMS ''Endeavour'', from 1768 to 1771. The aims were to observe the 1769 transit of Venus from Tahiti and to ...

to New Zealand. In 1973, B.C. Stone argued that ''F. banksii'' should be regarded as a subspecies of ''

Freycinetia baueriana ''Freycinetia'' is one of the five extant genera in the flowering plant family Pandanaceae. , the genus comprises approximately 300 species. The type species is ''Freycinetia arborea''. Description Species of ''Freycinetia'' are woody lianas whi ...

'' of

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island ( , ; ) is an States and territories of Australia, external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head, New South Wales, Evans Head and a ...

. Subsequent to this, de Lange et al. (2005:591-592), countered Stone's arguments and retained ''F. banksii'' as a distinct species because of significant differences from ''F. baueriana'', including over all growth habit, phyllotaxis, leaf width, vein tessellation, and bract colour (salmon pink to orange in ''F. baueriana'', white to purplish in ''F. banksii''). Its

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

name is cognate with the Hawaiian ''ieie'' from

Proto-Oceanic Proto-Oceanic (abbreviated as POc) is a proto-language that comparative linguistics, historical linguists since Otto Dempwolff have reconstructed as the hypothetical common ancestor of the Oceanic languages, Oceanic subgroup of the Austronesian ...

*''kiRekiRe'' for ''Freycinetia'' in general. Tāwhara, the name for the plant's edible flower bracts, is likely etymologically linked with other Polynesian words that describe bunches of bananas, while the name for the fruit, ureure, likely stems from the fruit's phallic appearance. ''Freycinetia banksii'' is the only member of

native to New Zealand.

Distribution

The plant is endemic to New Zealand. ''Freycinetia banksii'' is found in forests throughout the

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

, primarily in coastal and

montane forests Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

. In the

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

, kiekie is more common in higher rainfall areas, reaching its southern limit near the Clarence River in the east and in

Fiordland Fiordland (, "The Pit of Tattooing", and also translated as "the Shadowlands"), is a non-administrative geographical region of New Zealand in the south-western corner of the South Island, comprising the western third of Southland. Most of F ...

in the west.

Ecology

''Freycinetia banksii'' typically climbs trunks of larger trees in forested areas. If no trees are near the plant, ''Freycinetia banksii'' can form masses of tangled roots. The fruit and flower bracts of ''Freycinetia banksii'' are eaten by possums and rats.

Māori cultural uses and traditions

Kiekie is an important plant in

Māori culture Māori culture () is the customs, cultural practices, and beliefs of the Māori people of New Zealand. It originated from, and is still part of, Polynesians, Eastern Polynesian culture. Māori culture forms a distinctive part of Culture of New ...

. It was traditionally a major source of textiles, especially to

Ngāi Tūhoe Ngāi Tūhoe (), often known simply as Tūhoe, is a Māori people, Māori iwi (tribe) of New Zealand. It takes its name from an ancestral figure, Tūhoe-pōtiki. ''Tūhoe'' is a Māori-language word meaning 'steep' or 'high noon'. Tūhoe people a ...

and other iwi who lived inland and away from areas where

harakeke ''Phormium tenax'' (called flax in New Zealand English; in Māori; New Zealand flax outside New Zealand; and New Zealand hemp in historical nautical contexts) is an evergreen perennial plant native to New Zealand and Norfolk Island that is an ...

(New Zealand flax) grows, and is a traditional delicacy, prized for its two yearly crops, the first being the sweet flower bracts (tāwhara) followed by the fruit (ureure). Māori myths describe kiekie and harakeke as separated brothers. Harakeke left to go with the goddess Wainuiātea to the coasts, while kiekie remained with

Tāne In Māori mythology, Tāne (also called Tāne-mahuta, Tāne-nui-a-Rangi, Tāne-te-waiora and several other names) is the god of forests and of birds, and the son of Rangi and Papa, Ranginui and Rangi and Papa, Papatūānuku, the sky father and th ...

, the god of the forests. Ureure were often gathered by using a forked stick. The flower bracts were traditionally tied up using leaves of the plant, to protect the flowers from being eaten by

kiore The Polynesian rat, Pacific rat or little rat (''Rattus exulans''), or , is the third most widespread species of rat in the world behind the brown rat and black rat. Contrary to its vernacular name, the Polynesian rat originated in Southeast Asia ...

(the Polynesian rat). The leaves were used widely for plaiting and weaving, although the broader leaves of

New Zealand flax New Zealand flax describes the common New Zealand perennial plants ''Phormium tenax'' and '' Phormium colensoi'', known by the Māori names ''harakeke'' and ''wharariki'' respectively. Although given the common name 'flax' they are quite disti ...

were preferred because they provided more material. Kiekie was preferred for closely woven items,

tukutuku Tukutuku panelling is a distinctive art form of the Māori people of New Zealand, a traditional latticework used to decorate meeting houses (wharenui). Other names are Tuitui and Arapaki. Tukutuku flank the posts around the edge of the wharenu ...

, such as ''

kete KETE (99.7 FM; "Three Angels Broadcasting Network") is a terrestrial radio station, licensed to Sulphur Bluff, Texas, United States, and owned by Brazos TV, Inc. KETE broadcasts a Christian preaching format, featuring programming from the Th ...

pūtea'' and ''kete pure''. Items woven included mats and temporary baskets for holding food. The aerial roots were gathered to use as a binding material for implements and for making fish traps and sails. Elements of the plant are present in a number of place names, such as the

Tāwharanui Peninsula Tāwharanui Peninsula is a finger of land projecting into the Hauraki Gulf from the east coast of the much larger North Auckland Peninsula of New Zealand. It separates Ōmaha Bay to the north from Kawau Bay and Kawau Island to the south. The ne ...

and

Maungakiekie Maungakiekie / One Tree Hill is a volcanic peak and Tūpuna Maunga (ancestral mountain) in Auckland, New Zealand. It is an important place culturally and archeologically for both Māori and . The suburb around the base of the hill is also c ...

Gallery

FreycinetiaBanksii.jpg, Illustration by Frederick Polydore Nodder, Freycinetia banksii flower bract.jpg, Flower bract Freycinetia banksii A.Cunn. (AM AK345244-1).jpg, Herbarium specimen Kiekie on Maungakiekie 20230917 133327 05.jpg, Kiekie display on

, Auckland Freycinetia_banksii_fruit.jpg, Developing fruit Eaten Freycinetia banksii fruit.jpg, Partially eaten fruit

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q311751 banksii Endemic flora of New Zealand Fiber plants Epiphytes