Kōwhai ( or ) are small woody legume trees within the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

Sophora ''Sophora'' is a genus of about 45 species of small trees and shrubs in the pea family Fabaceae. The species have a pantropical distribution. The generic name is derived from ''sophera'', an Arabic name for a pea-flowered tree. The genus formerl ...

'' in the family Fabaceae that are native to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. There are eight species, with ''

Sophora microphylla ''Sophora microphylla'', common name kōwhai, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to New Zealand. Growing to tall and broad, it is an evergreen shrub or small tree. Each leaf is long with up to 40 pairs of shiny oval ...

'' and '' S. tetraptera'' being the most recognised as large trees. Their natural habitat is beside streams and on the edges of forest, in lowland or mountain open areas. Kōwhai trees grow throughout the country and are a common feature in New Zealand gardens. Outside of New Zealand, kōwhai tend to be restricted to mild temperate maritime climates. The blooms of the kōwhai are widely regarded as being New Zealand's unofficial national flower.Kōwhai: Native plants (doc.govt.nz) As such, it is often incorporated as a visual shorthand for the country, such as in Meghan Markle's

wedding A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vo ...

veil which included distinctive flora representing all

Commonwealth nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...

. The

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

word ''kōwhai'' is related to other words in some

Polynesian languages The Polynesian languages form a genealogical group of languages, itself part of the Oceanic branch of the Austronesian family. There are 38 Polynesian languages, representing 7 percent of the 522 Oceanic languages, and 3 percent of the Austro ...

that refer to different species that look superficially similar such as haw, 'ōhai ('' Sesbania tomentosa''), ty, ofai (''

Sesbania grandiflora ''Sesbania grandiflora'', commonly known as vegetable hummingbird, katurai, agati, or West Indian pea, is a small leguminous tree native to Maritime Southeast Asia and Northern Australia. It has edible flowers and leaves commonly eaten in Sout ...

'') and

Marquesan The Marquesas Islands (; french: Îles Marquises or ' or '; Marquesan: ' ( North Marquesan) and ' ( South Marquesan), both meaning "the land of men") are a group of volcanic islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in ...

''kohai'' ('' Caesalpinia pulcherrima''). ''Kōwhai'' is also the Māori word for the colour yellow. The spelling ''kowhai'' (without a macron) is common in New Zealand English.

Species

The eight species of kōwhai are: * ''

Sophora chathamica ''Sophora chathamica'', the coastal kōwhai, sometimes known as Chatham Island kōwhai, is one of 8 species of native sophora or kōwhai in New Zealand and grows naturally in the north-west of the North Island in New Zealand, as far south as the ...

'', coastal kōwhai * ''

Sophora fulvida ''Sophora fulvida'', the kōwhai or west coast kōwhai is one of 8 species of native ''Sophora'' or kōwhai in New Zealand and grows naturally around the Northland, Auckland and Waikato regions of New Zealand. Under the New Zealand Threat Class ...

'', Waitakere kōwhai * '' Sophora godleyi'', Godley's kōwhai * '' Sophora longicarinata'', limestone kōwhai * ''

'', small-leaved kōwhai * ''

Sophora molloyi ''Sophora molloyi'', the Cook Strait kōwhai, Molloy's kōwhai or Stephen's Island kōwhai, is one of 8 species of kōwhai native to New Zealand, and grows naturally around the Cook Strait region. It was first described as a species in 2001 and n ...

'', Cook Strait kōwhai * ''

Sophora prostrata ''Sophora prostrata'' is commonly known as kōwhai, prostrate kōwhai or dwarf kōwhai and is endemic to the eastern South Island from Marlborough to the Waitaki Valley in New Zealand although most commonly found on the Banks Peninsula. It is ...

'', prostrate kōwhai * ''

Sophora tetraptera ''Sophora tetraptera'', commonly known as large-leaved kōwhai, grows naturally only in the central east of the North Island in New Zealand. ''S. tetraptera'' has larger more widely spaced leaves than the other seven species of kōwhai. Etym ...

'', large-leaved kōwhaiThe Current Taxonomy of New Zealand Legumes
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Description and ecology

Most species of kōwhai grow to around 8 m high and have fairly smooth bark with small leaves. ''S. microphylla'' has smaller leaves (0.5–0.7 cm long by 0.3–0.4 cm wide) and flowers (2.5–3.5 cm long) than ''S. tetraptera'', which has leaves of 1–2 cm long and flowers that are 3–5 cm long. The very distinctive seed pods that appear after flowering are almost segmented, and each contains six or more smooth, hard seeds. Most species have yellow seeds, but ''Sophora prostrata'' has black ones. The seeds of ''Sophora microphylla'' can be very numerous and the presence of many hundreds of these distinctively yellow seeds on the ground quickly identifies the presence of a nearby kōwhai tree. Many species of kōwhai are

semi-deciduous Semi-deciduous or semi-evergreen is a botanical term which refers to plants that lose their foliage for a very short period, when old leaves fall off and new foliage growth is starting. This phenomenon occurs in tropical and sub-tropical woody spe ...

and lose most of their leaves immediately after flowering in October or November, but quickly produce new leaves. Flowering of kōwhai is staggered from July through to November, meaning each tree will get attention from birds such as

tūī The tūī (''Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae'') is a boisterous medium-sized bird native to New Zealand. It is blue, green, and bronze colored with a distinctive white throat tuft. It is an endemic passerine bird of New Zealand, and the only spe ...

kererū The kererū (''Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae'') or New Zealand pigeon is a species of pigeon native to New Zealand. Johann Friedrich Gmelin described the bird in 1789 as a large, conspicuous pigeon up to in length and in weight, with a white br ...

and bellbird. Tūī are very attracted to kōwhai and will fly long distances to get a sip of its nectar. The wood of kōwhai is dense and strong and has been used in the past for tools and machinery. ''Sophora'' is one of the four genera of native legumes in New Zealand; the other three are ''

Carmichaelia ''Carmichaelia'' (New Zealand brooms) is a genus of 24 plant species belonging to Fabaceae, the legume family. All but one species are native to New Zealand; the exception, '' Carmichaelia exsul'', is native to Lord Howe Island and presumably dis ...

'', ''

Clianthus ''Clianthus'', commonly known as kakabeak (''kōwhai ngutukākā'' in Māori), is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae, comprising two species of shrubs native to New Zealand. They have striking clusters of red flowers whi ...

'', and ''

Montigena ''Montigena'' is a genus of flowering plant in the legume family (biology), family Fabaceae, comprising a single species of dicotyledonous herb native plant, native to New Zealand, known as ''Montigena novae-zelandiae'' or more commonly the scre ...

''.

Cultivation

Kōwhai can be grown from seed or tip cuttings in spring and autumn. The dark or bright yellow seeds germinate best after chitting and being soaked in water for several hours. They can also benefit from a several minute submersion in boiling water to soften the hard shell and then being kept in the same water, taken off boil, for several hours to soak up the water. Young kōwhai are quite frost tender, so cuttings or seedlings should be planted in their second year when they are 30 cm or higher. If grown from seed, kōwhai can take many years to flower, the number of years varies depending on the species. ''S. prostrata'', sometimes called "little baby", is used as a bonsai tree. It grows up to two metres high, has divaricating stems, and sparse smallish leaves.

Dangers

All parts of the kōwhai, but particularly the seeds, are poisonous to humans. However, there do not appear to have been any confirmed cases in humans of severe poisoning following ingestion of kōwhai in New Zealand.

Traditional Māori use

Traditionally the

used the flexible branches as a construction material in their houses and to

snare SNARE proteins – " SNAP REceptor" – are a large protein family consisting of at least 24 members in yeasts, more than 60 members in mammalian cells, and some numbers in plants. The primary role of SNARE proteins is to mediate vesicle f ...

birds. The kōwhai flowers were a source of yellow dye. Also, when the kōwhai flowers bloom, in late winter and early spring, it is time to plant kumara (sweet potato). Māori also used the kōwhai tree as medicine. Wedges made of kowhai stem were used to split wood, it was used for fences and in whare (Maori hut) construction, implements and weapons. The bark was heated in a

calabash Calabash (; ''Lagenaria siceraria''), also known as bottle gourd, white-flowered gourd, long melon, birdhouse gourd, New Guinea bean, Tasmania bean, and opo squash, is a vine grown for its fruit. It can be either harvested young to be consumed ...

with hot stones, and made into a poultice to treat wounds or rubbed on a sore back or made into an infusion to treat bruising or muscular pains. If someone was bitten by a seal, an infusion (''wai kōwhai'') was prepared from kōwhai and applied to the wounds and the patient was said to recover within days.

Pre-human forests

Studies of accumulated dried vegetation in the pre-human mid-late

Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togeth ...

period suggests a low ''Sophora microphylla'' forest ecosystem in Central Otago that was used and perhaps maintained by giant

moa Moa are extinct giant flightless birds native to New Zealand. The term has also come to be used for chicken in many Polynesian cultures and is found in the names of many chicken recipes, such as Kale moa and Moa Samoa. Moa or MOA may also refe ...

birds, for both nesting material and food. Neither the forests nor moa existed when European settlers came to the area in the 1850s.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kowhai Sophora Trees of New Zealand Plants used in traditional Māori medicine National symbols of New Zealand Plant common names