#2458 - Coriaria arborea - Tree Tutu
Found in scrub and open areas from the coast to the hills across the main islands, the Chathams, and Raoul island. Like others in the genus, highly poisonous.
A straggling plant that can grow to over 6m high.
The toxin tutin is found in all parts of the plant apart from the fleshy flower petals. Livestock, including dogs and two circus elephants, have been poisoned by the plant, and humans are no better off. In 2014 a hiker was lucky to survive after mistaking the shoots for Supplejack (Ripogonum scandens).
Despite that, Tutu was eaten by the Māori - specifically the extracted juice of the flowerpetals that enfold the berries. The gathered berries were placed in specially woven baskets lined with the flower heads of Toetoe grass (Austroderia), to separate the seeds from the squeezed juice. The juice was used as a sweetener for fernroot, or was boiled with seaweed and left to set as a black jelly called Rehia.
Tree Tutu is host to four moth species in the genus Izatha.
Mount Taranaki, New Zealand