Podocarpus laetus. Tōtara kōtukutuku. Hall's totara.
Previous names
Previous names
Podocarpus hallii, Podocarpus cunninghamii (Colenso)
Māori names
Common names
Description
In Colenso 1884, 58:
" ... on my way down the mountain from the summit, I discovered a plant which I believed to be a new species of Podocarpus, and therefore named it P. cunninghamii .... Its bark, too, was semi-papery, more like that of some large specimens of Fuchsia excorticata, and not at all resembling the bark of P. Totara..... The natives call it Totara-kiri-kotukutuku"
And in a footnote: "I find this Maori name is given in the "Handbook" Index to Libocedrus Doniana, but I scarcely think any old Native would call a Libocedrus a Totara, the foliage in the two genera being so very different. The maori name for it, (like many other of their proper names,) is fit and expressive; lit. - Fuchsia-barked Totara."
Fishing and hunting
The Whanganui natives state that tōtara kōtukutuku is the tree most approved of by canoe makers because it is not so straight grained and free-splitting (Best 1942).
Domestic
Inner layers used for packing muttonbird (Kirk 1889).
