nīkau palm at the southern limit of all palms

Size
Height: 1000–1500 cm
Lifespan
50–100 years
Diet
Produces small, bright red berries eaten by native birds including kererū, tūī, and bellbirds. Important food source for forest birds, particularly when other fruits are scarce.
Habitat
Coastal and lowland forests, particularly in damp gullies and along stream banks. Protected from harshest frosts. Signature of Auckland and Northland skylines.
Range
New Zealand - found throughout North Island and northern South Island (north of about Greymouth and Kaikoura). Most common in coastal and lowland forests.
Endemism
Endemic
Main Threats
Predation by rats and possums is primary threat. Both feast on flowers and juicy "heart" of developing fronds. Also threatened by habitat loss from land clearance.
Population
Not Threatened, but slow to recover from land clearing. Greatest enemies are rats and possums. Vanished from many lowland forests cleared for farming and housing.
Conservation Status
Not Threatened
Human Risk
harmless
Handling Note
native palm, edible heart safe to handle but harvesting is prohibited
Conservation Note
Endemic palm; widespread in lowland forests in northern North Island and coastal areas.
Assessment
NZTCS Vascular Plants (2023)
Te Ao Māori
In Māori tradition, Nīkau is feathered umbrella of forest. Name literally means "without nuts". Comparison to coconut palms found by Polynesian ancestors in Hawaiki. Department store of bush. Large, waterproof fronds primary material for thatching traditional whare. Mid-ribs of leaves lashed together to make baskets and floor mats.
It is not fast. The Nīkau is sculptural masterpiece of New Zealand understory. Biological marathon runner. Grows with agonisingly slow precision. Defies modern fast-paced nature. For first two decades of life, exists only as cluster of ground-level fronds. Spends all energy building massive, subterranean root system. Only when established foundation of iron does it begin to push trunk upward. Marks progress with distinct, ring-like scars left behind by fallen leaves. Nīkau with five-metre trunk is likely older than person standing beneath it. They are grandfathers of gully. Moving through time at speed humans can barely perceive. Da Vinci blueprint centred on bulbous crownshaft. At top of smooth, green trunk sits swollen, bright-green cylinder. Massive, feather-like fronds erupt from it. Fronds can reach three metres in length. Curve upward and outward like plumage of exotic bird. Shuttlecock shape is brilliant piece of hydraulic engineering. Funnels every drop of rainfall and every bit of forest detritus directly into centre of crown. Creates self-fertilising compost tea. Feeds tree's growth. When frond dies, it falls away cleanly. Leaves perfect horizontal ring on trunk like mark of chisel. Nīkau is gourmet restaurant for forest's elite. Below green crownshaft, tree produces massive, branched flower spikes. Look like cluster of pale-pink coral. Flowers are magnet for tūī, bellbirds, and New Zealand honey bee. Once pollinated, turn into hard, bright-red berries. Hang in heavy, grape-like bunches. Forest candies are favourite snack of kererū (wood pigeon). Kererū is only bird with beak wide enough to swallow berries whole. In return for meal, pigeon carries hard seeds far across forest. Acts as Nīkau's primary long-distance delivery service. Without heavy kererū, slow-moving Nīkau would be stuck in its own shadow forever. To own a Nīkau is to own piece of geological time. Green, feathered monument to beauty of moving slowly. Predation by rats and possums is primary threat. Both species feast on flowers and juicy "heart" of developing fronds. Also threatened by habitat loss from land clearance. Removal of mature trees from coastal and lowland forests for housing and agriculture. Not Threatened, but slow to recover from land clearing. Greatest enemies are rats and possums. While still common in protected areas, Nīkau has vanished from many lowland forests cleared for farming and housing. No one told it otherwise.