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Karaka (tree)

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Karaka
A mature tree in Glendowie
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Cucurbitales
Family: Corynocarpaceae
Genus: Corynocarpus
Species:
C. laevigatus
Binomial name
Corynocarpus laevigatus

Karaka or New Zealand laurel (Corynocarpus laevigatus) is a medium-sized evergreen tree in the Corynocarpaceae family. It is endemic to New Zealand. It is common throughout the North Island and less common in the South Island. Karaka are also found on the Three Kings Islands, Kermadec Islands, and on the Chatham Islands. It is largely a coastal tree, though in the North Island, it can also be found in lowland inland forests.[1]

It grows to heights up to 15–20 m (49–66 ft) and has a stout trunk up to 1 m (3 ft 3 in) in diameter. Its leaves are 15–30 cm (5.9–11.8 in) long, fruit is 3–3 mm (0.12–0.12 in) long, with pale yellow–orange flesh. Individual flowers are 4–5 mm (0.16–0.20 in) in diameter. Karaka is a valuable food source for the kererū (Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae) and the Chatham Islands pigeon (Hemiphaga chathamensis). It is naturalised and considered invasive species in the U.S. state of Hawaii and can also be found in Southern California.

Considered a taonga (cultural treasure) amongst the Māori and Moriori peoples. Karaka was a significant source of food for the Māori. On the Chatham Islands, carvings of Moriori ancestors are carved on to karaka trees, which are considered internationally significant and unique to their culture. An exoplanet originally named HD 137388 was renamed to "Karaka" in 2019 in recognition of the tree.

Description

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Karaka is a medium-sized leafy canopy tree with erect or spreading branches. It grows to heights up to 15–20 m (49–66 ft) and has a stout trunk up to 1 m (3 ft 3 in) in diameter. Its leaves are 15–30 cm (5.9–11.8 in) long.[2]

In winter and spring (August to November), large clusters of karaka produces stout, erect panicles of tiny flowers (less than 0.5 cm (0.20 in) in diameter). Individual flowers are 4–5 mm (0.16–0.20 in) in diameter and greenish-cream to off-white or pale yellow. The fruit is an ellipsoid to ovoid drupe 3–3 mm (0.12–0.12 in) long, with pale yellow–orange flesh,[1] containing a single seed. The fruit ripens between January and April and the seeds are mostly dispersed by columbiform birds (such as the kererū) which feeds on its fruit.[3][2]

  • A mature tree
    A mature tree
  • Its orange fruit
    Its orange fruit
  • Foliage
    Foliage

Taxonomy

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Etymology

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The etymology of Corynocarpus translates in English to "club fruit", and the Latin specific epithet laevigatus translates to "smooth", in reference either to the fruit of the leaf or the skin. In the Māori language, Karaka can either refer to the fruit of the tree or the tree itself. Karaka is also the Māori word for the colour orange.[4][1] In the Moriori language and on the Chatham Islands, the tree is known as kōpi. The species is also known in English as the New Zealand laurel.[5]

Distribution

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Karaka is in large numbers throughout the North Island and South Island as far south as the Banks Peninsula on the east coast of the South Island and Greymouth (on the West Coast). Karaka is predominantly a coastal tree, though in the North Island, it can also be found in lowland inland forests.[6] Karaka is also found on the Chatham Islands, Kermadec Islands, and the Three Kings Islands.[7] It is generally accepted among sources that prior to Polynesian arrival of New Zealand, karaka were possibly limited to the northern North Island, even though it is now found on many offshore islands and the northern South Island (usually above the 38°S latitude line).[8]

It is naturalised and considered an invasive species in Hawaii, it is also grown in Southern California.[9][10] Karaka was introduced to Hawaii for reforestation purposes and was first naturalised to Kauai in 1891, and is still commonly found throughout the island.[9][11] It is mostly naturalised on the island of Kauai; but it is also found on Hawaii, Molokai, and Oahu.[12]

Ecology

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Karaka is a valuable food source for New Zealand birds.[13] Such as the kererū (Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae) and the Chatham Islands pigeon (Hemiphaga chathamensis) which are the only are the only extant bird species with a gape large enough to consume the fruits of karaka.[14] Centuries ago the fruits would have been dispersed by the extinct moa and possibly other large birds.[15] Possums (an invasive species in New Zealand) are also known to consume the ripe flesh of karaka berries. Its nectar from the flowers is also toxic to bees.[16]

Kererū feeds on its ripe fruits in late summer and disperse the seeds. Other smaller New Zealand birds such as the North Island robin (Petroica longipes), silvereye (Zosterops lateralis) and whiteheads (Mohoua albicilla) search and around karaka for insects.[17]

Relationship with humans

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Cultivation

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Karaka may be easily grown from fresh seed, but cuttings are very difficult to strike. Young plants are frost-tender and sensitive to cold. The tree often naturalises in suitable habitats. It is common in cultivation and widely available for sale both in New Zealand and in suitable climates elsewhere.[3] It was one of the most grown food crops by pre-European Māori (alongside kūmara and aruhe (bracken fern root),[18] who ate the drupe and seed after a long detoxification process.[19][20]

Every autumn (March to May), pre-European Māori would collect the seeds dropped from the coastal karaka trees. The seeds would be placed in open-weave kete, washed in rivers to remove the outer pulp, afterwards baked and sun dried, a process that would remove toxicity from the seeds. Properly prepared kernels would keep for 2–3 years.[20]

In Māori culture

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A Moriori kōpi tree carving in the Canterbury Museum

Māori primarily used karaka as a food source. In pre-European times, karaka was not known for its traditional healing value other than in its nutrition, though karaka did have other certain uses, with its underside of the leaf was used to extract an infection and its upper side was applied fresh to heal injured or infected skin.[21] The seeds of karaka were of great value to Māori and needed to be prepared before they could be safely consumed, while the flesh of the berry was consumed uncooked. The seeds are very poisonous and bitter in taste which had to be steamed properly in earth ovens (umu).[6] It is also known Māori used karaka wood in constructing canoes (waka).[22]

In Moriori culture

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See also: Hāpūpū / J M Barker Historic Reserve

On the Chatham Islands, karaka has played a distinguished role in the history of Moriori people, the soft bark of these trees has been used for making dendroglyphs. A 2000 report by the Department of Conservation indicated the existence of 147 karaka trees with dendroglyphs on the Chatham Islands, though some may not have been authentically Moriori.[23] Karaka (or kōpi in Moriori) is considered a taonga (cultural treasure) amongst the Māori and Moriori peoples. The carvings in the Moriori language are known as rākau momori, which are considered internationally significant and unique to their culture.[24]

Recognition

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An exoplanet originally named HD 137388 was renamed to "Karaka" in 2019 in honour of the tree.[25] A small community 20 km (12 mi) west of Whanganui named Pākaraka is also named in honour of the tree and its name reflects the "abundance of karaka trees" that previously were situated here.[26] Karaka has also been recognised on New Zealand Post stamps with its penny postage stamps in 1967 depicting an image of karaka in the centre of the image.[27]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Poole & Adams 1963, p. 128.
  2. ^ a b McAlpine et al. 2024, p. 3.
  3. ^ a b De Lange 2012.
  4. ^ McAlpine et al. 2024, p. 3, 23.
  5. ^ Garnock-Jones, Brockie & FitzJohn 2007, p. 6.
  6. ^ a b Metcalf 2000, p. 145; Cheesman 1906, p. 105.
  7. ^ Atherton et al. 2015, pp. 212–220.
  8. ^ McAlpine et al. 2024, p. 1.
  9. ^ a b Little & Skolmen 1989, p. 176.
  10. ^ Degener & Degener 1965, pp. 206–206.
  11. ^ Wagner, Herbst & Sohmer 1999, p. 1952.
  12. ^ Gallaher et al. 2020.
  13. ^ Sawyer, McFadgen & Hughes 2003, p. 7.
  14. ^ McAlpine et al. 2024, p. 5.
  15. ^ Clout et al. 1995, pp. 264–271.
  16. ^ Kerridge, Donna (14 February 2018). "How to prepare the delicious – but poisonous – karaka berry". The Spinoff. Archived from the original on 10 May 2024. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  17. ^ McAlpine et al. 2024, p. 13.
  18. ^ Metcalf 2000, p. 145.
  19. ^ Sawyer, McFadgen & Hughes 2003.
  20. ^ a b Colenso 1880.
  21. ^ McAlpine et al. 2024, p. 10.
  22. ^ McAlpine et al. 2024, pp. 12.
  23. ^ Jopson & McKibbin 2000, p. 8.
  24. ^ McAlpine et al. 2024, pp. 1–2.
  25. ^ Betson 2019, p. 1.
  26. ^ Tahana, Jamie (19 February 2022). "Pākaraka name returns to Whanganui village". Radio New Zealand. Archived from the original on 19 February 2022. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  27. ^ McAlpine et al. 2024, p. 14.

Works cited

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Websites

Books

Journals

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