manatu with fluttering leaves and long white flowers
- Size
- Height: 15–20 m
- Lifespan
- 100–200 years
- Diet
- Not applicable (tree)
- Habitat
- Lowland forests, river terraces, and forest margins. Prefers fertile, well-drained soils with full sun to partial shade. Often found on alluvial soils near rivers and streams. Tolerates frost and moderate drought.
- Range
- Found throughout New Zealand from Northland to Otago. Most common in lowland forests. Also found on the Chatham Islands. Rare in much of the South Island west coast.
- Endemism
- Endemic
- Main Threats
- Habitat loss from land clearance is the primary threat. Browsing by introduced possums and deer. No significant pest or disease issues. Climate change affecting forest habitats and river systems.
- Population
- Populations have declined due to land clearance but remain stable in remaining forest fragments. The species is common in lowland forests of the east coast of both islands. It is threatened by ongoing habitat loss and browsing by possums.
- Conservation Status
- Not Threatened
One of New Zealand's tallest broadleaf trees. A tree with two faces.
Manatu, also known as lowland ribbonwood, reaches up to 20 metres in height with a straight trunk and a rounded crown. But the tree has two faces – a juvenile and an adult. A tree that changes as it grows.
The juvenile form is a tangle. Densely intertwined, weeping branches hang down like a veil. The leaves are small and narrow, clustered along the drooping stems. The juvenile tree looks like a weeping willow, soft and sad. This tangled form protects the young tree from browsing birds like the moa. The branches are too dense for a large bird to push through, the leaves too small to be worth the effort.
The adult form is a different tree. The trunk is straight and tall, the bark is stringy and fibrous. The leaves are larger and oval, arranged alternately along the branches. The crown is rounded and open, letting the light through. The adult tree has shed its juvenile defences. It no longer needs to hide.
The bark is the story. Manatu bark is stringy and fibrous, peeling in long strips. Māori used these fibres for making rope (taura), fishing nets (kupenga), and lines. The bark was stripped, soaked, and beaten to separate the fibres, which were then twisted into strong, durable cordage.
The wood is light and strong. It was used for making paddles (hoe) and for construction. The tree is deciduous in colder regions, losing its leaves in winter.
To see a manatu is to see a tree of two lives. The riverbank is quiet. The juvenile manatu stands, weeping branches tangled like a veil, hiding from birds that are long gone. Nearby, an adult manatu rises, straight and tall, bark peeling in strips. The tree does not know it has two faces. It does not know it hides from ghosts.
It just wants to grow. A tangled, weeping juvenile and a tall, straight adult. A tree that learned to hide and then learned to stand. It has been here for millennia. It will be here as long as the rivers keep flowing. The manatu is proof.