Hoheria lyallii and Hoheria glabrata. Mountain ribbonwoods. Houhi.
Previous names
Previous names
Plagianthus lyallii
Māori names
houhere, hoihere, houhi, houi (Beever 1991); whauwhi (Kirk 1889). All in Williams 1971. Kauheke ? (Name recorded in Beattie 1994)
Common names
Fibre
Wood suitable for the manufacture of paper (Kirk 1889; Buchanan, in list of useful trees of Otago, published in catalogue, New Zealand Exhibition 1865)
Beattie 1994 notes: "Kauheke is a small tree "something like an apple tree", whose bark is very similar to that of the ribbonwood and which can be used for similar purposes to that of the latter in making kopare (hair fillets) tatua (belts) and piupiu mats. It may even have been used for garments but its use in any case is very much less than that of ribbonwood for it grows on the hills and is consequently harder to procure"
Hoheria angustifolia is the more commonly used southern 'ribbonwood'. Kauheke is a Ngai Tahu term for a hair fillet or chaplet (Williams 1971).
Environment
Haase 1990 suggests that fast growing seral trees like H. glabrata may be of interest to the pulp and paper industry, and for recultivation of mining sites etc.
