Pectinopitys ferruginea

Pectinopitys ferruginea, commonly known as miro or toromiro, is an evergreen coniferous tree which is endemic to New Zealand.

Description

It grows up to Template:Convert high, with a trunk up to 1.3 m diameter. The leaves are linear to sickle-shaped, Template:Cvt long and Template:Cvt broad, with downcurved margins. The plants are dioecious with pollen cones being solitary while those of female plants hang from a curved, scaly stalk. The seed cones are highly modified, reduced to a central stem Template:Cvt long bearing 1–3 scales, each scale maturing berry-like, oval, about Template:Cvt long and Template:Cvt broad, red to purple-red with a soft edible pulp covering the single seed. The seeds are dispersed by the kererū (New Zealand pigeon), which eats the very conspicuous 'berries' and passes the seeds in its droppings. Miro can live for at least 600 years.

Etymology

The species epithet ferruginea derives from the rusty colour of dried herbarium specimens of the leaves. The Māori name miro comes from the Proto-Polynesian word milo which refers to Thespesia populnea, also known as the Pacific rosewood. During early European settlement, the tree was called brown pine.

Distribution and habitat

It is found growing on both lowland terrain and on hill slopes throughout the two main islands as well as on Stewart Island / Rakiura (47° S).

Distinguishing miro from mataī

Miro is distinguished from the related, and sometimes very similar looking tree mataī (Prumnopitys taxifolia) in four aspects of its anatomy; its cones, bark, seeds and leaves.

• Miro trees have longer, broader leaves with green undersides while those of mataī leaves are white. In addition, the leaves of miro generally narrow to a point, whereas those of mataī are rounded, sometimes with a small point right at the very tip. Fine, flat, feathery foliage.
• Miro trees have cones of some hue of red in colour while those of mataī are blue-black.
• Miro also have relatively longer cones which are oval and red in colour.
• Like mataī, the bark of more mature miro trees flakes off to leave a distinctive "hammer mark pattern", but unlike mataī, the pattern is not as pronounced nor as colourful (areas from which bark flakes have recently fallen in mataī often have a striking red colour that fades over time back to brown). These leaves take up to 3 years to decompose.

• Miro foliage
  Miro foliage
• Mataī foliage (adult)
  Mataī foliage (adult)

Uses

The pink berries of the tree are edible, and have a taste resembling nutmeg and turpentine.

Miro trees were traditionally important in Māori culture as locations where kererū could be snared, as the birds often gorge themselves on the tree's ripe berries. Special drinking troughs called waka kererū were constructed near miro trees in order to easily snare birds. Kererū that had fed on miro are traditionally considered a delicacy, as the flavour would be imparted into the meat. Large miro trees were often given names, such as Miropiko pā in Hamilton, which was chopped down in the late 1860s during the establishment of the town.

The wood of the miro tree has been used for timber and to construct houses.

Gallery

• Miro berries
  Miro berries
• Herbarium specimen
  Herbarium specimen
• Botanical illustration by Thomas Kirk, 1889
  Botanical illustration by Thomas Kirk, 1889
• Man standing next to a miro tree, c. 1910
  Man standing next to a miro tree, c. 1910

Further reading

• Nature guide to the New Zealand forest, John Dawson and Rob Lucas, Godwit, 2000
• The Trees of New Zealand, L. Cockyane, E. Phillips Turner, Government printer, 1943
• Trees and shrubs of New Zealand, A.L. Poole and N.M. Adams, Government printer, 1963

External links

• Gymnosperm Database: Prumnopitys ferruginea
• Photos of tree and foliage with cones