Karaka (tree)

Karaka
A mature tree in Glendowie, a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand.
Conservation status
Not Threatened (NZ TCS)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Cucurbitales
Family:	Corynocarpaceae
Genus:	Corynocarpus
Species:	C. laevigatus
Binomial name
Corynocarpus laevigatus J.R.Forst. & G.Forst., 1776

Karaka or New Zealand laurel (Corynocarpus laevigatus) is a medium-sized evergreen tree in the family Corynocarpaceae. It is endemic to New Zealand and is common throughout the North Island and less common in the South Island. Karaka are also found on the Chatham Islands, Kermadec Islands, and the Three Kings Islands. It is mostly a coastal tree, though in the North Island, it can also be found in lowland inland forests.

Karaka was first described by the German naturalists Georg and Johann Reinhold Forster in 1776. Karaka grows to heights up to 15–20 m (49–66 ft) and has a stout trunk up to 60 cm (24 in) in diameter. Its leaves are leathery, dark to bright green in colour and up to 15–30 cm (6–12 in) long and its oval shaped orange-coloured fruit is 30–40 mm (1.2–1.6 in) in length. Karaka berries are a valuable food source for the kererū (Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae) and the Chatham Islands pigeon (Hemiphaga chathamensis). It is naturalised and considered an invasive species on several Hawaiian islands and is mostly found on the island of Kauai. Karaka is also grown in Southern California.

It is considered a taonga (cultural treasure) amongst the Māori and Moriori peoples, who used it significantly as a food source. On the Chatham Islands, carvings of Moriori ancestors were carved on to karaka trees (known as rākau momori) are considered internationally significant and unique to their culture. An exoplanet originally named HD 137388 was renamed to "Karaka" in 2019 in recognition of the tree's orange-coloured fruit.

Description

Karaka is a medium-sized evergreen leafy canopy tree with erect spreading branches. It grows to heights up to 15–20 m (49–66 ft) and has a stout trunk usually up to 60 cm (24 in) in diameter. The largest trunk's diameter ever measured was 3 m (10 ft).^[2][3] Karaka is predominantly a coastal tree, though in the North Island, it can also be found in lowland inland forests.^[4][5]

Mature trees have dark brown corrugated bark with corrugations that are broken up into pieces that are roughly 1 cm × 3 cm (0.4 in × 1.2 in) and 0.5 cm (0.2 in) thick. Younger trees have light brown bark that frequently has short, horizontal bands that resemble sewing stitches. Karaka's dense shade and prolific seeding exclude local species and change the host community's composition and ecological processes in areas where it has been allowed to proliferate. Karaka has an alternating elliptic oval shaped foliage that are up to 8 cm (3 in) wide, with petioles less than 2 cm (0.8 in) long.^[6]

From August to November, karaka produces large, stout, erect panicles of tiny greenish-yellow flowers, each less than 0.5 cm (0.2 in) in diameter. It starts flowering between August to November and each panicle may have up to 100–200 flowers.^[2][3] The fruit karaka produces is oval shaped and 30–40 mm (1.2–1.6 in) in length; with pale yellow–orange coloured flesh and a poisonous seed which is smooth and elliptic. The seed has an open system of fibrous veins on the yellowish surface.^[7][8]

Karaka's wood anatomy prevents them from being dated using the conventional technique of counting annual growth rings in the trunk. Karaka trees planted in Palmerston North in 1962 grew to a height of 14 m (46 ft) in 42 years. The largest stem diameter measured 26.5 cm (10.4 in), and the trees grew 0.68 mm (0.027 in) per year. Other karaka trees grew at different rates; the largest karaka tree on mainland New Zealand which was 500 years old with a diameter at breast height (DBH) of 212 cm (83 in) and a growth rate of 0.43 cm (0.17 in) per year.^[6]

The fruit ripens between January and April and the seeds are mostly dispersed by two columbiform birds, the kererū and the parea, which also feeds on its fruit. In modern-day New Zealand, the majority of karaka seeds germinate within 8 m (26 ft) of a parent tree, indicating that the tree does not normally spread out very far.^[9][3]

• 
  Close-up of karaka's greenish-yellow flower panicle and characteristic leathery, oval-shaped leaves
• 
  Clusters of karaka fruit showing different ripening stages, from green to orange-yellow, hanging from branches with yellowing leaves
• 
  Dense foliage of a mature karaka tree showing its characteristic branching pattern and dark green, glossy leaves

Taxonomy

C. laevigatus was first described by the German naturalists J. R Forster & G. Forster in 1776

Karaka (Corynocarpus laevigatus) was first described by the German naturalists Johann Reinhold Forster and Georg Forster in 1776, though their description was incomplete, and the figures of the parts of the flower were inaccurate. It was described from specimens collected on the second voyage of James Cook. Sir Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander, who were the botanists on the first voyage of James Cook, also brought specimens of C. laevigatus to England, where they described and figured it under the name Merretia lucida, though their work was never published.^[10]

Karaka (Corynocarpus laevigatus) is a medium-sized tree endemic to New Zealand, unlikely to be mistaken for any other native, foreign, or naturalised tree. It can be readily identified by its orange drupes and its leathery leaves.^[11] Karaka is in the family Corynocarpaceae, which includes four other species in the genus: (C. similis) in Vanuatu, (C. cribbianus) in the Solomon Islands, North Queensland and Vanuatu; (C. dissimilis) in New Caledonia; and (C. rupestris) in the Australian states of New South Wales and Queensland.^[6]

The Corynocarpaceae genus may have originated from a Paleotropical centre, then separated to two radiations into colder climates. In the first, C. cribbianus and C. rupestris were found in Australia through New Guinea, while in the second, C. dissimilis, C. similis, and C. laevigatus were found in New Caledonia, which led to New Zealand. Fossilised Corynocarpus kernels from the early Miocene era were found at Landslip Hill in the Southland Region, indicating that the genus has a long history in New Zealand. It is possible that Corynocarpus spread from New Caledonia to New Zealand via land connections that existed in the mid-Tertiary era.^[12]

Etymology

The etymology of Corynocarpus translates to English to 'club fruit', and the Latin specific epithet laevigatus translates to 'smooth', in reference either to the fruit of the leaf or the skin. In the Māori language, karaka can either refer to the fruit of the tree or the tree itself. Karaka is also the Māori word for the colour orange.^[13][7] In the Moriori language and on the Chatham Islands, the tree is known as kōpi. The tree is also known in English as the New Zealand laurel.^[14]

Distribution

Karaka is in large numbers throughout the North Island and South Island as far south as the Banks Peninsula on the east coast of the South Island and Greymouth (on the West Coast).^[4][5] It is also found on the Chatham Islands, Kermadec Islands, and the Three Kings Islands.^[12] Sources generally agree that before Polynesian arrival in New Zealand, karaka was likely limited to the far north of the North Island, despite its current range across offshore islands and the northern South Island.^[15] In the far north of New Zealand, where kauri (Agathis australis) forests are its natural vegetation type, the density of karaka is low (2.5 stems per hectare). Populations can be significantly denser further south in the North Island, where karaka has spread from Māori plantings. A 2006 study by the New Zealand Journal of Botany indicated an average canopy coverage across plots in karaka stands was 41%, with a maximum cover of 75%. Its estimated altitudinal range is between 29°N and 38°S.^[6] If planted, karaka can survive as far south as Dunedin.^[16]

It is naturalised and considered an invasive species in Hawaii, where it is naturalised in moist soils and considered a threat to endangering rare plants such as Exocarpos luteolus.^[17][18] Karaka is also grown in Southern California.^[19][20] Karaka was introduced to Hawaii for reforestation purposes and was first naturalised to Kauai in 1891, and is still commonly found throughout the island.^[19][18] Karaka is primarily naturalised on the island of Kauai. It is also found on the islands of Hawaii, Molokai, and Oahu.^[21]

Ecology

Karaka berries are a valuable food source for the kererū

Karaka is a valuable food source for New Zealand birds.^[22] The kererū (Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae) and the Chatham Islands pigeon or parea (Hemiphaga chathamensis) are the only are the only extant bird species with a gape large enough to consume the fruits of karaka.^[23] The extinct moa and other large birds likely consumed karaka fruits centuries ago.^[24]

A 1966 article from the Ornithological Society of New Zealand reported a New Zealand bellbird (Anthornis melanura) feeding on the sap from the bark of the karaka.^[6] Other smaller New Zealand birds such as the North Island robin (Petroica longipes), silvereye (Zosterops lateralis) and whiteheads (Mohoua albicilla) are known to search around karaka trees for insects.^[25] The endocarp of karaka is usually nibbled by Polynesian rat (Rattus exulans), while the larger brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) occasionally chew open the endocarps. Both species consume the flesh of karaka.^[6] Possums (an invasive species in New Zealand) are also known to consume the ripe flesh of karaka berries.^[26]

Relationship with humans

Cultivation

Karaka is common in cultivation and widely available for sale both in New Zealand and elsewhere in the world.^[1] It was one of the most grown food crops by pre-European Māori (alongside kūmara and aruhe); they ate the drupe and seed after a long detoxification process.^[27][28] Karaka berries contain karakin and other glucosides of 3-nitropropionic acid, which are highly toxic.^[29][30][31] Initial symptoms of poisoning include diarrhoea, nausea and restlessness which develop to more severe gastrointestinal and neurological problems.^[32]

Every autumn, pre-colonisation Māori would collect the seeds dropped from the coastal karaka trees. The seeds would be placed in open-weave traditional baskets (kete), washed in water to remove the outer pulp and baked and sun dried, a process that would remove toxicity from the seeds.^[33][34]

In Māori culture

A Moriori kōpi tree carving (rākau momori) in the Canterbury Museum

Karaka is of great importance to Māori, who primarily used it as a food source.^[35][36] In Māori mythology, karaka is told to be from Hawaiki, an ancestral homeland for the Māori people.^[16][37] While pre-European Māori primarily valued karaka for nutrition rather than medicine, they did use leaf undersides to draw out infections and fresh upper surfaces to heal injured skin.^[38] The seeds of karaka were of great value to Māori and needed to be prepared before they could be safely consumed, while the flesh of the berry was consumed uncooked. The seeds are very poisonous and bitter in taste which had to be steamed properly in earth ovens (umu).^[4][39] Karaka wood was also used in constructing canoes (waka).^[40]

In Moriori culture

See also: Hāpūpū / J M Barker Historic Reserve

On the Chatham Islands, karaka has played a distinguished role in the history of Moriori people; the bark of these trees has been used for making dendroglyphs. A 2000 Department of Conservation report documented 147 karaka trees with dendroglyphs on the Chatham Islands, though not all carvings were confirmed as authentically Moriori.^[41][42] Karaka (or kōpi in Moriori) is considered a taonga (cultural treasure) amongst the Māori and Moriori peoples. Carvings on karaka trees, known as rākau momori in the Moriori language, typically depict Moriori ancestors and are considered internationally significant and unique to their culture. A rāhui protects the remaining carved trees due to their fragile state, with conservation measures underway. Karaka wood was also utilised by the Moriori to smoke and preserve food.^[43][44]

Recognition

An exoplanet originally named HD 137388 was renamed to "Karaka" in 2019 in honour of the tree's orange fruit.^[45] A small community 20 km (12 mi) west of Whanganui named Pākaraka is also named in honour of the tree and its name reflects the "abundance of karaka trees" that previously were situated here.^[46] New Zealand Post recognised karaka in 1967 by featuring it on penny postage stamps.^[47]

See also

• List of trees native to New Zealand

References

1. De Lange 2012.
2. Rapson 2012; Kirk 1889, p. 171.
3. McAlpine et al. 2024, p. 3.
4. Metcalf 2000, p. 145; Cheeseman 1906, p. 105.
5. Kirk 1889, p. 173; Metcalf 2002, p. 98.
6. Rapson 2012.
7. Poole & Adams 1963, p. 128.
8. Rapson 2012; De Lange 2012; Metcalf 2002, p. 98.
9. De Lange 2012; Rapson 2012.
10. Hemsley 1903.
11. De Lange 2012; Cockayne 1914, p. 9.
12. Atherton et al. 2015, pp. 1–2.
13. McAlpine et al. 2024, p. 3, 23.
14. Garnock-Jones, Brockie & FitzJohn 2007, p. 6.
15. McAlpine et al. 2024, p. 1.
16. Costall et al. 2006, p. 7.
17. Sawyer, McFadgen & Hughes 2003, p. 10.
18. Wagner, Herbst & Sohmer 1999, p. 1952.
19. Little & Skolmen 1989, p. 176.
20. Degener & Degener 1965, pp. 206–206.
21. Gallaher et al. 2020.
22. Sawyer, McFadgen & Hughes 2003, p. 7.
23. McAlpine et al. 2024, p. 5.
24. Clout et al. 1995, pp. 264–271.
25. McAlpine et al. 2024, p. 13.
26. Kerridge 2018.
27. Sawyer, McFadgen & Hughes 2003.
28. Metcalf 2000, p. 145; Reed 1963, p. 49; Colenso 1880.
29. McAlpine et al. 2024, p. 9.
30. Saggers 2017.
31. Majak & Benn 1994, p. 901.
32. Willis 2020.
33. Colenso 1880; Reed 1963, p. 100.
34. Laing 1906, pp. 234–235.
35. Costall et al. 2006, p. 6.
36. Metcalf 2002, p. 98.
37. Laing 1906, p. 235.
38. McAlpine et al. 2024, p. 10.
39. Reed 1963; Kirk 1889, p. 172; Metcalf 2002, p. 98.
40. McAlpine et al. 2024, p. 12.
41. Jopson & McKibbin 2000, p. 8.
42. Atherton et al. 2015, p. 12.
43. McAlpine et al. 2024, pp. 1–2, 12.
44. Jopson & McKibbin 2000, p. 5.
45. Betson 2019, p. 1.
46. Tahana 2022.
47. McAlpine et al. 2024, p. 14.

Works cited

Websites

• De Lange, Peter (15 January 2012). "Corynocarpus laevigatus". New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. Archived from the original on 9 May 2024. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
• Betson, Anne (18 December 2019). "Distant celestial objects now 'Kererū' and 'Karaka'". University of Auckland. Archived from the original on 1 March 2024. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
• Gallaher, TJ; Brock, K; Kennedy, BH; Imada, CT; Imada, K; Walvoord, N (2020). "Corynocarpus laevigatus - Plants of Hawaiʻi". Plants of Hawaiʻi. Archived from the original on 18 December 2024. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
• Rapson, J. L. (24 November 2012). "Corynocarpus laevigatus (karaka)". CAB International. Archived from the original on 18 December 2024. Retrieved 6 November 2024.
• Tahana, Jamie (19 February 2022). "Pākaraka name returns to Whanganui village". Radio New Zealand. Archived from the original on 19 February 2022. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
• Kerridge, Donna (14 February 2018). "How to prepare the delicious – but poisonous – karaka berry". The Spinoff. Archived from the original on 10 May 2024. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
• Willis, Rosalie (12 February 2020). "Karaka trees fruiting again producing toxic berries". Kapiti News. New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 26 November 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
• Saggers, Christio (17 March 2017). "Karaka tree a great native, but beware the danger that lurks beneath". The Marlborough Express. Archived from the original on 14 July 2023. Retrieved 19 December 2024.

Books

• Mirza, Umair (2005). New Zealand Encyclopedia (6th ed.). New Zealand: David Bateman. ISBN 1869536010. Retrieved 4 November 2024 – via the Internet Archive.
• Sawyer, John; McFadgen, Bruce; Hughes, Paul (March 2003). Karaka (Corynocarpus laevigatus J.R. et G. Forst.) in Wellington Conservancy (excluding Chatham Islands) (PDF). DOC Science Internal Series. Vol. 101. Department of Conservation. pp. 1–26. ISBN 0-478-22387-0.
• Jopson, Fraser W.; McKibbin, Craig R. (2000). Moriori Tree Carvings, Chatham Islands (PDF). Vol. 1. Department of Conservation. ISBN 0-478-21863-X.
• Poole, A. L.; Adams, Nancy Mary (1963). Trees and Shrubs of New Zealand. Wellington, New Zealand: Government Printing Office. ISBN 978-0-477-01374-1 – via the Internet Archive.
• Metcalf, L. J. (2000). New Zealand Trees and Shrubs: A Comprehensive Guide to Cultivation and Identification. Auckland, New Zealand: Reed Publishing. ISBN 0790006626 – via the Internet Archive.
• Little, Elbert; Skolmen, Roger G. (1989). Common forest trees of Hawaii (native and introduced). Washington D.C., United States: United States Department of Agriculture.
• Wagner, Warren L.; Herbst, Derral R.; Sohmer, S.H. (1999). Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawaii. University of Hawaii Press.
• Cheeseman, T. F. (1906). Manual of the New Zealand flora (1 ed.). Wellington, New Zealand: New Zealand Board of Science and Art. ISBN 9781514880548 – via the Internet Archive.
• Cockayne, Leonard (1914). New Zealand plants suitable for North American gardens. Wellington, New Zealand – via the Internet Archive.
• Reed, Alexander Wyclif (1963). An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Maori Life. Wellington, New Zealand: A. H. & A. W. Reed, 1963. ISBN 0-589-00115-9 – via the Internet Archive.
• Kirk, Thomas (1889). The Forest Flora of New Zealand. Wellington, New Zealand – via the Internet Archive.
• Laing, R. M. (1906). Plants of New Zealand. Christchurch, New Zealand: Whitcombe and Tombs – via the Internet Archive.
• Metcalf, L. J. (2002). A Photographic Guide to trees of New Zealand. Auckland, New Zealand: New Holland Publishers. ISBN 1-877246-57-3 – via the Internet Archive.

Journals

• Atherton, RA; Lockhart, PJ; McLenachan, PA; de Lange, PJ; Wagstaff, SJ; Shepherd, LD (2 October 2015). "A molecular investigation into the origin and relationships of karaka/kōpi (Corynocarpus laevigatus) in New Zealand". Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 45 (4). Informa UK Limited: 212–220. doi:10.1080/03036758.2015.1093006. ISSN 0303-6758.
• McAlpine, Kate G.; Cory, Sally; Cox, Bart Te Manihera; McLeod (Taranaki Whānui), Terese; Rapson, Gillian; Roskruge (Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Tama), Nick Rahiri; Shepherd, Lara D. (5 September 2024). "Karaka (Corynocarpus laevigatus): native taonga (treasure) or environmental weed?". New Zealand Journal of Botany. Informa UK Limited: 1–26. doi:10.1080/0028825x.2024.2388751. ISSN 0028-825X.
• Clout, M. N.; Karl, B. J.; Pierce, R. J.; Robertson, H. A. (1995). "Breeding and survival of New Zealand Pigeons Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae". Ibis. 137 (2). Wiley: 264–271. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919x.1995.tb03248.x. ISSN 0019-1019.
• Garnock-Jones, P. J.; Brockie, R. E.; FitzJohn, R. G. (2007). "Gynodioecy, sexual dimorphism and erratic fruiting in Corynocarpus laevigatus (Corynocarpaceae)". Australian Journal of Botany. 55 (8). CSIRO Publishing. doi:10.1071/bt07054. ISSN 0067-1924.
• Skey, W. (1871). "Preliminary Notes on the Isolation of the Bitter Substance of the Nut of the Karaka Tree (Corynocarpus lævigata)". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 4: 316–321. Retrieved 22 May 2013 – via Papers Past.
• Colenso, William (1880). "On the vegetable food of the ancient New Zealanders before Cook's visit". Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 13: 3–38 – via Papers Past.
• Degener, Otto; Degener, Isa (1965). "Flora of Hawaii". Kew Bulletin. 19 (2). Springer, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: 206–206. ISSN 0075-5974. JSTOR 4108039. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
• Costall, J.A.; Carter, R.J.; Shimada, Y.; Anthony, D.; Rapson, G. L. (2006). "The endemic tree Corynocarpus laevigatus (karaka) as a weedy invader in forest remnants of southern North Island, New Zealand". New Zealand Journal of Botany. 44 (1). Informa UK Limited: 5–22. doi:10.1080/0028825x.2006.9513002. ISSN 0028-825X.
• Hemsley, W. Botting (1903). "On the Genus Corynocarpus, Forst., with Descriptions of two New Species". Annals of Botany. os-17 (4): 743–760. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.aob.a088941. ISSN 1095-8290.
• Majak, Walter; Benn, Michael (March 1994). "Additional esters of 3-nitropropanoic acid and glucose from fruit of the New Zealand karaka tree, Corynocarpus laevigatus". Phytochemistry. 35 (4): 901–903. doi:10.1016/S0031-9422(00)90635-6.

External links

• Media related to Corynocarpus laevigatus at Wikimedia Commons