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Knightia excelsa. Rewarewa.

Name document
Chemistry
Construction
Domestic
Food
Medicinal
Traditions

Click to collapse Māori names Info

REWAREWA.

Flowers: rewa (Best 1907). Sometimes used for the tree itself.

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Honey obtained in former times from blossom. (Best 1942)

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Ornamentation, picture frames, fence pales (Colenso 1868a)

Among museum artefacts he tested Wallace 1989 found a bowl and a maul made from rewarewa

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Said to be used in Whanganui district for stockades because it does not burn readily. Best says probably palisades, not posts, because the timber decays readily (Best 1927).

Click to collapse Medicinal Info

Inner part of the bark styptic, bandaged onto wound. "I may state that I have myself seen several wounds healed under the above treatment in a surprisingly short space of time" (O'Carroll 1884).

The bark contains beta-sitosterol, a major component of an American proprietary drug used to lower blood cholesterol levels (Brooker, Cambie and Cooper 1987).

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Chemical compounds listed in Cambie 1976, with references.

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Waiapu Māori told Best that in former times an infant"s pito was sometimes placed on a rewarewa pod, a charm repeated over it, and placed on the surface of the water. If capsized, indicated evil ; if not, then good fortune (Best 1929)

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b2df0910-6f2b-4fe3-8ad6-98bb69d6e513
name
28 May 2007
1 July 2020
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