Native Restoration Plants Hunt
Go for a walk around your local restoration areas. See if you can identify any of these common restoration plant species. How many of the ones on our scavenger hunt sheet can you spot? You might need to do some research to tell some of them apart. Can you tell mānuka from kānuka? (Hint: Use the saying “Mean mānuka and kind kānuka,” mānuka feels prickly and kānuka feels soft when you hold a branch). These plants have flowers that are loved by bees.
Be aware that Tī kōuka (cabbage trees) look a bit like a harakeke (flax) plant when young, they will take a few years to grow the trunk that we see the older ones with. You can tell the difference between them, by looking at the base of the plant. If the leaves overlap each other and come out in a ‘V’ formation, it is harakeke. Young tī kōuka have leaves coming out in every direction from a central point.
Young horoeka (lancewood) trees look very different to the older horoeka trees too. Did you know that the long, thick, tough, central vein of the younger plant’s leaves were used by early settlers as shoelaces, and the thin trunks were used as whips!
Another hint is that whauwhaupaku is also known as ‘5 finger’, as it often has 5 leaves (sometimes 6-7), like fingers of a hand, coming out from a point on the stem. Its leaves are thick with serrated edges. This distinguishes it from patē (‘7 finger’), which has 7-9 thin, narrower leaves with smooth or wavy edges.
Ake ake are very distinctive with their long thin leaves pointing straight up. You might find these in green or a purple/red colour.
Koromiko, has white, purple, or pink flowers. The tips of the young leaves were used in rongoa to cure diarrhea and dysentery. They were sent to soldiers during the war to be used for this reason.
Karamu (coprosma robusta) will usually have little pits (domatia), under the leaves on the sides of the large central vein. This can help you to identify them. Look closely and you might find little mites living in these! They have berries which are loved by birds and were traditionally eaten by children. It is related to the coffee plant.
Young toe toe plants look a bit like a tough grass. Some people refer to them as ‘cutty grass’. Be careful not to confuse our beautiful native toe toe with the terrible invasive pest species, pampas. One of the easiest ways to identify this weed from toe toe, is when pampas leaves die they curl up like wood shavings at the base of the plant. Pampas flowers also have a purple/pink tinge to them.
Tarata is also known as ‘lemonwood’. To check if the plant you find is tarata, break a leaf in half and smell it! If it has a lemon scent, then you’ve found tarata!
Kowhai’s yellow flowers are loved by tui. The small leaflets are paired along each side of the stem and the bright yellow seeds are encased in a long pod.
You can also use the NZ Trees app or the iNaturalist app to help you identify the trees.
