''Pennantia corymbosa'', commonly known as kaikomako (from 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 ...

), is a small

dioecious Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproductio ...

forest tree of

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 ...

. Small creamy, white flowers are produced between November and February, followed by a shiny black fruit in autumn. They are a favourite food of the

New Zealand bellbird The New Zealand bellbird (''Anthornis melanura''), also known by its Māori names korimako, makomako, and kōmako, is a passerine bird endemic to New Zealand. It has greenish colouration and is the only living member of the genus ''Anthornis''. T ...

. The

name means food () of the bellbird (). Traditionally, Māori used the tree to make fire by repeatedly rubbing a pointed stick into a groove on a piece of mahoe. An English name is ''"duck's foot"'', coming from the shape of the juvenile plant's leaf. Juvenile plants have small leaves with tangled, divaricating stems, while mature plants have much larger leaves and a normal tree architecture. Pennantia corymbosa tree11

References

Trees of New Zealand Divaricating plants Pennantiaceae {{Apiales-stub