Flora of New Zealand Series

Kiekie; Tawhara (edible bracts); Ureure (fruit).

Original localities: Bay of Islands - Hokianga district. Type:?

Woody but brittle perennial climber attached by roots to trunks of forest trees or in large masses on ground. Stems c. 4 cm. diam., branched, marked with scars of old lvs. Lvs ± tufted towards ends of stems, spirally arranged, to c. 150 × 2–2.5 cm.; sheathing bases pale; tips long-attenuate, triangular in T.S.; margins, and midrib abaxially, minutely and distantly spinulose. Spadices simple and solitary in axils of several ± foliaceous bracts at stem apex; bracts thick and succulent towards base, white to purplish. Peduncle 1–4 cm. long, glab., whitish; spadix at fl. c. 7 × 1.5 cm., cylindrical or slightly flattened, the axis quite hidden by tightly packed fls. ♂ of several stamens each with a long filament, ovate anther and cop. ± confluent pollen surrounding a small rudimentary ovary; limits of individual fls not easily determined. ♀ with 6–12 purplish staminodes at base of flattened, vertically elongated ovary c. 2–4 × 1 mm. × 2 mm. tall, the long sides grooved between the staminodes; stigmas c. 6–12, sessile, arranged around a long groove; locule narrow, placentae forming ridges projecting into it. Infructescence to c. 15 × 3 cm. on stiff woody peduncle. Individual frs (phalanges) c. 8 × 2 × 10 mm., compressed laterally, thin-walled proximally, broadest c. ⅓ from base and almost woody towards top. Seed c. 1 mm. long, narrow, on long, slender funicle.

DIST.: N., S. To c. lat. 42º on the east and to Fiordland on the west.

Rain forest, coastal scrub.

FL. 9–11. FT. 1–2.

The fibrous lvs have been used in Maori weaving or plaiting. The whitish bracts associated with the infls are occasionally eaten, their sweet flavour and crisp texture making them palatable. Plants growing on stream edges produce peculiar underwater roots which have been described by Cheeseman (Man. N.Z. Fl. 1925, 123) : "These are sometimes several feet in length, and are excessively branched, the ultimate divisions being filiform. They are regularly girdled with conspicuous spongy or corky whitish rings, which give the roots a very remarkable appearance."