Glory be for New Zealand Trees

The mauve flowers of the poroporo plus developing fruit

My most recent run was a tired affair so I allowed myself time to stop often and view my surroundings. What mainly attracted me was the poroporo which is looking absolutely gorgeous. It is flowering at present and is covered in beautiful mauve flowers which  glisten in the sunlight. In fact flowering of all trees seems to be prolific this year. The ti kouka or cabbage trees have been a mass of bloom with sprays of tiny buff coloured flowers. All this bounty is beginning to make people excited as it may indicate we are going to have a mast year. Flowering and fruiting in New Zealand trees does not happen every year. Every second or third year heavy flowering and fruiting occurs. This is called masting. Some of our endangered birds will only breed in mast years and this is true of our wonderful kakapo or night parrot. There are only about one hundred and twenty five of the green flightless parrot left in the world. For the last two years the males have made their bowls or leks then boomed and chinged all night in the hopes of attracting a female. The females said no and no babies have been born for two years. Unless they can be sure there will be plenty of food for their young they will not mate. The fruiting of the rimu tree seems to be the key. So here's hoping that way down on Codfish Island the kakapo decide its time to reproduce and we get an increase of these amazing green flightless parrots which wander around the bush at night. Before man arrived kakapo were the third most common bird in New Zealand. It must have been an amazing sight at night to see these fat green parrots ambling around and to hear the boom and ching of the males echoing throughout the islands as they tried to entice females to their leks.
Kakapo information

When the rimu fruits heavily the kakapo will breed.

I stopped often to photograph different trees as I ran. We have had a wet warm spring and the growth is positively lush and the smell poignant. Away from New Zealand it is the smell of the bush I miss most. Alas not many birds were present as I ran due to rats, cats, stoats etc. It makes me value Zealandia even more as it shows what we could have with a little effort. Maybe one day even kakapo can once again roam through the bush and its odd sounds will echo in people's back yards.

A poroporo shrub glistening in the sun

A nikau palm - the only palm in the world that does not produce a nut.

A lemon wood or tarata. When the leaves are crushed a delicious lemony smell is released.

The mahoe or whiteywood glistens in the sun.

The kawakawa produces an  edible yellow peppery fruit. Its leaves can be infused to make a pepper flavoured tea.

The makomako (meaning like shark's teeth in Maori) or wineberry in its juvenile form. Settlers used its fruit to make wine.

Honey produced from manuka flowers has antibiotic properties and is highly sought after.

A young totara pine. In 500 years it will be one of the dominant trees in the Ngaio Gorge

A totara tree looking lush with spring growth

Hangehange is a shrub that fills niches in the undergrowth, covering banks wherever it can get a foothold.

Whau looks strangely tropical with its large soft leaves