tawa whose fruit once fed entire kererū flocks

Size
Height: 20–30 m
Lifespan
300–500 years
Diet
Not applicable (tree)
Habitat
Lowland and hill forests, often on fertile, well-drained soils. Prefers warm, humid conditions with high rainfall. A dominant canopy tree in many northern forests. Often found with taraire, pūriri, and kahikatea.
Range
Found in lowland forests of the North Island and northern South Island. Most common from Northland to Marlborough. Replaces taraire in southern parts of its range. Also found on the Chatham Islands.
Endemism
Endemic
Main Threats
Habitat loss from land clearance for farming and forestry is the primary threat. Predation of fruit and seeds by introduced rats and possums. Competition from invasive weed species. Climate change affecting flowering and fruiting patterns.
Population
Populations stable in remaining forest fragments. Not commercially logged but threatened by ongoing habitat loss. Rats consume large quantities of fruit, reducing regeneration. Possums browse foliage, damaging canopy health.
Conservation Status
Not Threatened
A tall, graceful forest tree with smooth, pale bark and long, narrow leaves. Tawa reaches 30 metres in height, with a straight trunk and a dense, rounded crown. The bark is pale grey and smooth, marked with small, raised lenticels. The leaves are long and narrow, up to 15 centimetres in length, with a pointed tip and smooth edges. They are dark green on top and paler underneath, arranged alternately along the branches. What makes it special? The fruit. Tawa produces a dark purple, plum-like fruit with a large, hard kernel inside. The fruit ripens in late summer to early autumn, hanging in clusters from the branches. The flesh is thin and sweet, but the kernel is the prize. The kernel is rich and oily, a high-energy food that sustained Māori forest tribes for centuries. The fruit is eaten by birds, particularly the kererū, which swallows the whole fruit and disperses the seed. The kererū is the Tawa primary gardener, carrying the seeds far from the parent tree. Without the kererū, Tawa would be limited to the area around its parent. The wood of Tawa is pale, straight-grained, and durable. It was used for making tools, for the handles of adzes, for the frames of houses. It is a wood that does not split or warp, a wood that lasts for generations. The wood was also used as fuel for lighting fires, valued for its long-burning, hot flame. Biologically, Tawa is a dominant canopy tree in many northern lowland forests. It forms dense stands with taraire, pūriri, and kahikatea, creating a tall, closed canopy that shades the forest floor. The tree is shade-tolerant as a seedling, but requires gaps in the canopy to reach maturity. To see a Tawa in fruit is to see a tree heavy with purple plums. The kererū wobble on the branches, too full to fly. The kernels fall to the ground, waiting to be collected, waiting to be cooked, waiting to feed the forest. Tawa is not a king. It is not a warrior. It is the provider, the tree of the kernel, the one that fed the forest.