Dicksonia fibrosa. Whekī-ponga. Tree fern.
Māori names
WHEKĪ-PONGA, whekī-kōhunga; tūkirunga, pēhiakura, kurīpākā, kuranuipākā (all in Williams 1971), pūnui (Best, used in Matatua district)
Slabs of matted aerial roots cut from thick stems: pairi ponga (Best 1942)
Common names
Construction
"Sometimes, especially in the interior, the outside of their better houses was formed of hard fibrous slabs cut from the stout red-brown fern-tree, wekiponga" (Colenso 1868a).
Slabs used to line underground storage pits. Withstood rats. Rushes used for lining. Tūhoe used slabs to cover the roof-frames of rua (Best 1907, 1916)
Metadata
f286833a-d718-4dd1-a622-1ae438f3350d
name
28 May 2007
4 July 2020