''Beilschmiedia tawa'', commonly known as the tawa, is a New Zealand broadleaf tree common in the central parts of the country. Tawa is often the dominant canopy tree species in lowland forests in 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 ...

and the north east of 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 ...

, but will also often form the subcanopy in primary forests throughout the country in these areas, beneath

podocarps Podocarpaceae is a large family of mainly southern hemisphere conifers, known in English as podocarps, comprising about 156 species of evergreen trees and shrubs.James E. Eckenwalder. 2009. ''Conifers of the World''. Portland, Oregon: Timber Pres ...

such as

kahikatea ''Dacrycarpus dacrydioides'', commonly known as kahikatea (from Māori language, Māori) and white pine, is a Pinophyta, coniferous tree endemism, endemic to New Zealand. A Podocarpaceae, podocarp, it is New Zealand's tallest tree, gaining hei ...

, mataī, miro and

rimu ''Dacrydium cupressinum'', commonly known as rimu, is a species of tree in the family Podocarpaceae. It is a dioecious evergreen conifer, reaching heights of up to , and can have a stout trunk (botany), trunk up to in diameter. It is endemis ...

. Individual specimens may grow up to or more in height, with trunks up to in diameter, and they have smooth dark bark. The Māori word "tawa" is the name for the tree. Tawa produce small inconspicuous

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s followed by long fruit of a dark red plum colour. With such large fruits, tawa is notable for the fact that it relies solely on the

New Zealand pigeon New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

(kererū) and (where present) the

North Island kōkako The North Island kōkako (''Callaeas wilsoni'') is an endangered forest bird which is endemic (ecology), endemic to the North Island of New Zealand. It is grey in colour, with a small black mask. Adults have distinctive blue wattles. Because ...

for dispersal of its seed. These are the only remaining birds from New Zealand's original biota large enough to eat the fruits of this tree and pass the seeds through their guts and excrete them unharmed. Tawa can also support significant

epiphyte An epiphyte is a plant or plant-like organism that grows on the surface of another plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphyt ...

gardens in their canopies, which are one of the few habitats known to be frequented by the enigmatic, arboreal striped skink. This tree gives its name to a northern suburb of

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

, Tawa.

Description

''Beilschmiedia tawa'', or tawa, is a medium sized

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

tree in the family

Lauraceae Lauraceae, or the laurels, is a plant Family (biology), family that includes the bay laurel, true laurel and its closest relatives. This family comprises about 2850 known species in about 45 genus (biology), genera worldwide. They are dicotyled ...

endemic to New Zealand. It grows to a height of up to tall and has a trunk up to in diameter. Flowering typically occurs in January, but can occur as early as October or as late as May, producing an

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

(flower spike) up to long. Its flowers are in diameter and palish green. Fruiting typically occurs in January, but can come as early as December or as late as March. The fruit is an oval shaped

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is a type of fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pip'' (UK), ''pit'' (US), ''stone'', or ''pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed ...

typically measuring long and wide, potentially long and wide. The fruit is contains a single seed surrounded by a fleshy

pericarp Fruits are the mature ovary or ovaries of one or more flowers. They are found in three main anatomical categories: aggregate fruits, multiple fruits, and simple fruits. Fruitlike structures may develop directly from the seed itself rather th ...

. The pericarp can be

glaucous ''Glaucous'' (, ) is used to describe the pale grey or bluish-green appearance of the surfaces of some plants, as well as in the names of birds, such as the glaucous gull (''Larus hyperboreus''), glaucous-winged gull (''Larus glaucescens''), ...

(covered in a pale waxy coating) or shiny and turns dark purple when ripe. ''Beilschmiedia tawa'' has slender to moderately robust erecting

branch A branch, also called a ramus in botany, is a stem that grows off from another stem, or when structures like veins in leaves are divided into smaller veins. History and etymology In Old English, there are numerous words for branch, includ ...

es. Its leaves are lanceolate, typically measuring in length (rarely ) and wide (rarely ). Their color ranges from yellowish to green. They are glabrous (hairless) with a pale glaucous underside. Its

petiole Petiole may refer to: *Petiole (botany), the stalk of a leaf, attaching the blade to the stem *Petiole (insect anatomy) In entomology, petiole is the technical term for the narrow waist of some hymenopteran insects, especially ants, bees, and ...

s are typically long, ranging from in length.

Taxonomy and etymology

The species was first labelled as ''Laurus salicifolia'' in the notes of

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 ...

and

Daniel Solander Daniel Carlsson Solander or Daniel Charles Solander (19 February 1733 – 13 May 1782) was a Sweden, Swedish naturalist and an Apostles of Linnaeus, apostle of Carl Linnaeus. Solander was the first university-educated scientist to set foot o ...

dating from 1769, referring to material collected during 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 ...

. The species was first formally described in 1838 by Allan Cunningham, who named the species ''Laurus tawa''. In 1853, the species was moved to the genus ''Nesodaphne'' by

Joseph Dalton Hooker Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (30 June 1817 – 10 December 1911) was a British botanist and explorer in the 19th century. He was a founder of geographical botany and Charles Darwin's closest friend. For 20 years he served as director of the Ro ...

in the series '' Flora Novae-Zelandiae''. The genus was combined into ''Beilschmiedia'' by

George Bentham George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studie ...

and Hooker in 1880. The current scientific name ''Beilschmiedia tawa'' uses the 1889 description by Thomas Kirk in the periodical ''Forest Flora of New Zealand'' as the authority. In 1984, botanist Anthony Ernest Wright described a new species called ''Beilschmiedia tawaroa'' after noticing differences in trees grown in the islands of the

Hauraki Gulf The Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana is a coastal feature of the North Island of New Zealand. It has an area of 4000 km2, This species was synonymised with ''Beilschmiedia tawa'' by Peter de Lange (botanist), Peter de Lange and Ewen Cameron in 1999, who failed to find any other consistent distinguishing features. The species epithet uses the

Māori language Māori (; endonym: 'the Māori language', commonly shortened to ) is an Eastern Polynesian languages, Eastern Polynesian language and the language of the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. The southernmost membe ...

name for the tree, tawa. The word tawa is linked etymologically with the

Proto-Polynesian Proto-Polynesian (abbreviated PPn) is the reconstructed proto-language from which all modern Polynesian languages descend. It is a descendant of the Proto-Oceanic language (the language associated with the Lapita civilization), itself a descend ...

term tava, used to describe '' Pometia pinnata''. ''Pometia pinnata'', while not being a closely related species, shares some similarities, including being a prominent tall forest tree, and having buttress roots.

Distribution

''Beilschmiedia tawa'' is a tree endemic to New Zealand. It is most commonly found in the

, and on many of its off-shore islands. In the

, the tree is less common with its population being mainly centred in the

Marlborough Region Marlborough District or the Marlborough Region (, or ''Tauihu''), commonly known simply as Marlborough, is one of the 16 regions of New Zealand, located on the northeast of the South Island. It is administered by Marlborough District Counci ...

, with its southernmost population located in the

Kaikōura Ranges The Kaikōura Ranges are two parallel ranges of mountains located in the Canterbury Region in the northeast of the South Island of New Zealand. The two ranges are visible from a great distance, including from the southern coast of the North Isla ...

, in the northern

Canterbury Region Canterbury () is a region of New Zealand, located in the central-eastern South Island. The region covers an area of , making it the largest region in the country by area. It is home to a population of The region in its current form was estab ...

. It is one of two members of the genus ''

Beilschmiedia ''Beilschmiedia'' is a genus of trees and shrubs in family Lauraceae. Most of its species grow in tropical climates, but a few of them are native to temperate regions, and they are widespread in tropical Asia, Africa, Madagascar, Australia, New Z ...

'' found in New Zealand, alongside ''

Beilschmiedia tarairi ''Beilschmiedia tarairi'', commonly known as taraire, is a tree of the family Lauraceae, endemic to the North Island of New Zealand. It is a common canopy tree in lowland forests north of Auckland, often growing in association with kauri (''Aga ...

'', also known as taraire. ''Beilschmiedia tawa'' is only naturally absent in the highest regions of the Central Volcanic Plateau, the montane forests, and locally unfavourable locations in the lowland woods of the North Island. Additionally, secondary forests caused by fire are unusual for it. The

Aupōuri Peninsula The Aupōuri Peninsula is a tombolo at the northern tip of the North Island of New Zealand. It projects between the Tasman Sea to the west and the Pacific Ocean to the east. It constitutes the northern part of the Far North District, incorpora ...

's sand-dune terrain and the beaches of Kaipara and Manawatū are the only places in the country where there are gaps due to the lack of native forest lowland distribution. Between the

Mōkau Mōkau is a small town on the west coast of New Zealand's North Island, located at the mouth of the Mōkau River on the North Taranaki Bight. Mōkau is in the Waitomo District and Waikato region local government areas, just north of the boundar ...

and

Whanganui River The Whanganui River is a major river in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the country's third-longest river, and has special status owing to its importance to the region's Māori people. In March 2017 it became the world's second natur ...

s and in the hilly terrain of the eastern

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty () is a large bight (geography), bight along the northern coast of New Zealand's North Island. It stretches from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runaway in the east. Called ''Te Moana-a-Toitehuatahi'' (the Ocean ...

hinterland hold the largest populations of ''B. tawa''. In the South Island, ''Beilschmiedia tawa'' is largely present in the seawards valleys near of the

, but is it uncommon inland. Its most westerly known occurrence in the South Island is in the Tākaka Valley, north-west of the

Nelson Region Nelson () is a List of cities in New Zealand, city and Districts of New Zealand, unitary authority on the eastern shores of Tasman Bay at the top of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the oldest city in the South Island and the second-old ...

. The Kaikōura Ranges in the Canterbury region are the southernmost geographical location where ''B. tawa'' naturally occur.

Habitat

Tawa is notable for the fact that it relies solely on the

kererū The kererū (''Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae''), also known as kūkupa (Māori language#Northern dialects, northern Māori dialects), New Zealand pigeon or wood pigeon, is a species of pigeon native to New Zealand. Johann Friedrich Gmelin describ ...

(New Zealand pigeon]) and (where present) the

gardens in their canopies, which are one of the few habitats known to be frequented by the enigmatic, arboreal striped skink. Tawa is one of three known native New Zealand species which is host to '' Coptomma variegatum'', a beetle species also known by the name tawa longhorn.

Māori cultural uses and significance

The wood of tawa trees has traditionally been used by

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 ...

to craft implements such as paddles, clubs,

adze An adze () or adz is an ancient and versatile cutting tool similar to an axe but with the cutting edge perpendicular to the handle rather than parallel. Adzes have been used since the Stone Age. They are used for smoothing or carving wood in ha ...

handles, and notably lances to spear

, some of which could be up to in length. Both the purple flesh and the kernel of the tawa berry were used by

as food. The berries were steamed in a

hāngī Hāngī () is a traditional New Zealand Māori method of cooking food using heated rocks buried in a pit oven, called an ''umu''. It is still used for large groups on special occasions, as it allows large quantities of food to be cooked witho ...

(

earth oven An earth oven, ground oven or cooking pit is one of the simplest and most ancient cooking structures. The earliest known earth oven was discovered in Central Europe and dated to 29,000 BC. At its most basic, an earth oven is a pit in the ground ...

) for two days, then washed to remove the turpentine-flavoured pulp. The dried kernels were stored. When required, they were soaked in hot water and pounded, sometimes flavouring being added to the mashed meal. Predation by invasive species has led to it becoming less available for humans. Processed tawa kernels could be stored for long periods, and after contact with Europeans, the kernels were occasionally mixed with honey and mashed to form cakes. Large tawa trees often have significance to Māori communities and are associated with spirituality. The tawa berry flesh (''tawa para'') is used in whakataukī (traditional sayings) to describe cowardice, while the hard kernels (''tawa uho'') are used to describe courage. The phrase ''ahi tawa'' (tawa fire) can be used to describe noisy things and children, and is a reference to the loud popping sounds of tawa kernels cooking in fires.

Modern uses

Early European settlers to New Zealand used the tree for timber, developing into an industry where tawa timber was exported to Australia. The wood of this tree can be used for attractive and resilient floorboarding. Although largely protected in conservation areas and by robust environmental legislation, licences are occasionally granted for the odd fallen tree to be milled for its timber.

Namesake

The tree is the namesake of Tawa, a suburb of

. Prior to 1959, the area was known as Tawa Flat, a name used from at least 1854, potentially originating as the name of a property owned by farmer John Woodman.

Gallery

Beilschmiedia tawa in Dunedin Botanic Garden.jpg, Bark Beilschmiedia tawa in Mount Ngongotaha SR (1).jpg, Tawa leaves Beilschmiedia tawa (A.Cunn.) Benth. and Hook.f. ex Kirk (AM AK375389).jpg, Herbarium specimen Beilschmiedia tawaroa A.E.Wright (AM AK156145-1).jpg, Herbarium specimen of ''Beilschmiedia tawaroa'', since synonymised with ''Beilschmiedia tawa'' Beilschmiedia tawa flowers.jpg, Flowers Tawa fruit (cropped).jpg, Tawa fruit ripening from green to dark purple

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1955922 tawa Trees of New Zealand Endemic flora of New Zealand