tūtū with berries that killed early settlers' stock

Size
Height: 2–5 m
Lifespan
20–40 years
Diet
Absorbs nutrients through roots. Prefers damp, fertile soils with good light. Often the first plant to establish on slips and eroded banks.
Habitat
Forest margins, riverbanks, stream sides, slip faces, and disturbed areas. Prefers damp, fertile soils with good light. Often the first plant to establish on slips. Tolerates partial shade.
Range
Found throughout New Zealand from Northland to Stewart Island. Most common in forest margins, riverbanks, and disturbed areas. Also found on the Chatham Islands and in South America.
Endemism
Endemic
Main Threats
Habitat loss from land clearance. Poisonous to livestock, leading to deliberate removal from farmland. Climate change affects distribution. No significant conservation threats as the species is common.
Population
Populations stable and widespread. Common in forest margins, riverbanks, and disturbed areas throughout New Zealand. Not threatened by habitat loss because it thrives in disturbed conditions. Toxicity to livestock has led to removal from some farmland.
Conservation Status
Not Threatened
Human Risk
dangerous
Handling Note
all parts highly toxic, tutin causes convulsions and death do not touch or ingest
Conservation Note
Widespread endemic shrub; all parts are highly poisonous to humans and livestock due to tutin toxin.
Assessment
NZTCS Vascular Plants (2023)
Te Ao Māori
In Māori tradition, tutu was both dangerous and useful. Its extreme toxicity was well known. But the sweet juice from the petals was a valued flavouring. The careful process of extracting the juice without contaminating it with poisonous parts was a specialised skill. The juice was used to sweeten the bitter taste of fern root and other foods. The poisonous properties were sometimes used to poison bait for eels.
Disturbance invites it. Tutu is a shrub or small tree that grows in forest margins, riverbanks, and disturbed areas. It reaches two to five metres in height. It has a spreading habit and thin, angled branches. The leaves are small, oval, and arranged opposite each other along the stems. They are bright green and soft. They are not tough like the leaves of the podocarps. The flowers are small and greenish. They are followed by distinctive fruit. What makes it special? The petals. Every part of the tutu plant is poisonous. The leaves, the stems, the roots, the seeds. All of it. Except for the petals. The petals look like long strings of small, dark fruit. They are a juicy, sweet, purple-black string that hangs from the branches. To eat the petals is safe. To eat anything else is to risk convulsions and death. Māori knew this well. To extract the sweet juice, they crushed and strained the petals through toetoe and other fibrous plants. The juice was used to sweeten and flavour other foods such as aruhe (fern root) and dishes made from mamaku and karaka. The juice was a delicacy. It was a sweet treat in a forest that offered little sugar. The poisonous properties of tutu were also used to poison bait for eels. The leaves and stems were crushed and placed in streams. This stunned the eels so they could be caught. The poison was also used on the tips of bird spears. It brought down the kererū and the kākā. Biologically, tutu is a pioneer of disturbed ground. It is often the first plant to appear on a slip or an eroded bank. Its roots hold the soil together. It grows quickly. It produces its poisonous fruit. Then it fades away as the forest returns. To see a tutu is to see a plant of contradictions. Poisonous and sweet. Dangerous and useful. A killer and a healer. Tutu is not a king. It is not a warrior. It is the trickster of the forest. It offers sweetness with one hand and death with the other.