A medium-sized forest tree with leathery, serrated leaves and masses of small white flowers in spring. Its bark was used by Māori to make pātua (food containers) and black tattooing pigment. The fruit was an important food. Māori pounded or soaked the fruit to remove the flesh from the stones, dried the kernels, then baked them into large cakes for storage and travel. The wood is heavy and durable, sometimes used for tool handles. The leaves are another clue. Hīnau leaves are oblong, leathery, and sharply toothed along the edges – like a serrated knife. They are dark green on top and paler underneath, arranged alternately along the branches. The tree is evergreen, holding its leaves through the year. The flowers are small, white, and bell-shaped, hanging in clusters from the branches. They appear in spring, covering the tree in a cloud of white. The flowers are rich in nectar and are pollinated by bees and other insects. The fruit is a small, purple-black drupe, about the size of a large olive. The flesh is thin and bitter, but the kernel inside is rich and oily. Hīnau was one of the most important food trees for Māori. The kernels were collected in autumn, when they fell from the trees. They were soaked to soften the bitter flesh, then the stones were cracked open to remove the kernel. The kernels were dried in the sun, then baked in a hāngī (earth oven) for several hours. The resulting cakes could be stored for months, providing a reliable source of food during the winter. The wood of Hīnau is heavy, dense, and dark brown. It was used for making tools, for the handles of adzes, for the frames of houses. It is a wood that does not crack or warp, a wood that lasts for generations. To see a Hīnau in flower is to see a cloud of white in the green of the forest. To taste its kernel is to taste the history of the forest, the food that sustained the people who lived among the trees. Hīnau is not a king. It is not a warrior. It is the provider, the tree of the kernel, the one that fed the forest.