Griselinia littoralis. Pāpāuma. Kāpuka. Broadleaf.
Māori names
pāpāuma, paraparauma, kāpuka (South Island; Anon 1993), māihīhi, tapatapauma (all in Williams 1971); kawariki (Best 1908), poukata (State Conservator of Forests 1877)
Common names
Domestic
Among museum artefacts he tested Wallace 1989 found a wakahuia made of kāpuka.
Environment
"The berries... are eaten by the kōkō bird, which is said to get very fat on such food" (Best 1907) [Kōkō is the tūī]
Medicinal
Bark is bruised and applied for the itch by rubbing it over the skin ( Taylor 1848 and 1870; Kerry-Nicholls 1886). (Note that Taylor also suggests pāpāuma is "a mistletoe").
Chemistry
Chemical constituents listed in Cambie 1976, 1988 with references.
See also Brooker, Cambie and Cooper 1987 for comment on chemical compounds.