pigeonwood with dark berries the kererū cannot resist

Size
Height: 10–15 m
Lifespan
100–200 years
Diet
Not applicable (tree)
Habitat
Lowland and coastal forests, often in damp, sheltered sites. Prefers fertile, well-drained soils with partial shade. Often found in mature forest understorey and along stream banks.
Range
Found in lowland forests of the North Island and northern South Island. Most common from Northland to Marlborough. Also found on the Chatham Islands.
Endemism
Native
Main Threats
Habitat loss from land clearance is the primary threat. Browsing by introduced possums and deer. Climate change affecting forest habitats.
Population
Populations are considered stable in remaining forest fragments. The species is common in lowland forests throughout its range. It is threatened by ongoing habitat loss and browsing by possums. Protection of lowland forest is critical for the species survival.
Conservation Status
Not Threatened
A tall shrub or small tree with glossy, leathery, saw-toothed leaves. A tree that gets the pigeons drunk. Pigeonwood grows to 15 metres in height, with a straight trunk and a dense, rounded crown. The leaves are the story – glossy, leathery, with reddish or brown mid-ribs and saw-toothed edges. They are dark green and shiny, catching the light. The flowers are small, greenish, and inconspicuous, appearing in spring. But the fruit is the story – oblong, juicy, red, as large as cherries, appearing in summer. The fruit is a favourite of the kererū, the native wood pigeon. The birds gorge on the fruit until they are too fat and drunk to fly, stumbling around on the ground. A tree that makes birds tipsy. The Māori name Porokaiwhiri means pigeon food. The kererū would eat so much fruit that they became easy to catch. The birds were a valuable food source, and the tree was a key part of the hunting strategy. To see a pigeonwood in fruit is to see a tree of red jewels. The fruit hangs in clusters, bright against the dark green leaves. The kererū wobble on the branches, too full to fly. It is a tree of abundance, of feasting, of the forest providing. The wood is hard and durable. Māori used it for making small tools, for the handles of adzes, for digging sticks. The tree was also a sign – a forest with pigeonwood was a forest full of birds, a place where the people could gather food. Pigeonwood is not a king. It is not a warrior. It is the feeder of pigeons, the tree of the drunk birds, the one that makes the kererū stumble. The forest is full. The pigeonwood hangs with red fruit. The kererū wobble on the branches. The tree does not know it is a hunting strategy. It does not know it makes birds drunk. It just wants to spread its seeds. It has been here for millennia. It will be here as long as the kererū remember its fruit.