Azorella lyallii. Pūnui
Māori names
Māori names
On one island the people call it, or a variety of it, punawe (pronounced boon-a-way), but the general name is punui. Beattie 1994
Food
Large, vivid green leaves eaten on the Titi Islands. Some muttonbirders bring back bundles of it to eat as a cabbage. Food once wrapped in these large leaves for placing in umu, the leaves being eaten as a kinaki (relish) to the food. Beattie 1994
Domestic
Leaves used extensively by muttonbirders being as handy as paper for wrapping and for spreading things on (Beattie 1994).
"Over at Stewart Island there is a plant called punui with a leaf like a pumpkin. A boy dried and smoked this leaf, and, gravely added the narrator, his mouth was turned inside out. These leaves deceived another lad, too. He came from the North, and when he saw the leaves thought he was going to feast on pumpkins, but he was disappointed." (Beattie 1920)
