scrambles over the coastal forest shrubs

Size
Length: climbing stems 5-10 m, Leaves: 5-10 cm
Lifespan
15-25 years
Diet
Photosynthesis. Produces fleshy yellow-orange fruit eaten by birds particularly kererū. Flowers produce nectar for bees and other insects.
Habitat
Coastal and lowland forests forest margins and along stream banks. Prefers good light and fertile well-drained soil. Climbs using tendrils and scrambles over shrubs.
Range
North Island and northern South Island. Coastal and lowland forests from Northland to Marlborough and West Coast. Particularly common in warm moist situations.
Endemism
Endemic
Main Threats
No major threats. May be outcompeted by invasive Passiflora species in some areas particularly Passiflora edulis. Generally resilient.
Population
Still common in suitable habitat across range. No major decline reported. Populations remain stable though local losses occur where habitat cleared.
Conservation Status
Not Threatened
Human Risk
harmless
Handling Note
native vine, edible fruit safe to handle
Conservation Note
Endemic passionfruit vine; widespread in northern North Island forests.
Assessment
NZTCS Vascular Plants (2023)
Te Ao Māori
Kōhia is Māori name for New Zealand's only native passionfruit. Fruit gathered from forest when ripe. Eaten fresh and sometimes stored. Vines observed climbing without hooked thorns of tātarāmoa. Offering gentler model of forest movement. Name carries associations with binding or intertwining. Appropriate for plant climbing using curling tendrils. Modern foragers seek fruit each autumn. Conservationists note role in feeding native birds.
It is not tropical. Passiflora tetrandra has a wild cousin in New Zealand. Climbs with tendrils not thorns. Flowers are small greenish-white. Easy to miss. Then fruit appears. Yellow-orange about size of cherry. Hanging in clusters from stems. Birds eat them. Kererū love them. Seeds pass through and land on forest floor. Ready to germinate. Vine spreads without rushing. Without demanding attention. Without drama of South American relatives. Leaves are broad glossy and divided into two lobes at tip. Look like butterfly that landed on stem and decided to stay. Tendrils coil around supports in tight spirals. Pulling vine upward centimetre by centimetre. Slow work. But vine has time. Flowering happens in summer. Blooms are about two centimetres across. Five pale petals and central column of stamens. Do not look like passionfruit flowers. No purple. No white fringe. No complicated architecture. Just simple understated flower. Bees visit. Everyone else ignores. Then fruit ripens. Sweet. Tangy. Flavour reminds you of tropics but stops short of full exoticism. Native birds queue up for it. Human foragers hunt for it. Vine produces just enough to keep everyone interested. This is only native Passiflora species in New Zealand. Rest are imports escapees weeds. Kōhia holds its ground against them partly because it belongs here. Partly because it does not try to dominate. It climbs. It fruits. It stays. Vines grow along forest margins and stream banks. Where light reaches leaves but soil stays damp. Not demanding. Not aggressive. Just persistent. Fruit keeps appearing each autumn. Birds keep eating. And vine keeps climbing one tendril at a time. No one told it otherwise.