Raukaua edgerleyi. Raukawa.
Previous names
Previous names
Panax edgerleyi, Nothopanax edgerleyi, Pseudopanax edgerleyi
Māori names
RAUKAWA, koare (Williams 1971)
Adult form: houmangōroa, haumangōroa, haumakōroa. Name used among the Matatua tribes (Urewera) when leaf changes to adult form. (Best ).
Young form: kōareare (Best)
Scent
Aromatic leaves. Fresh leaves used for rubbing body and for scenting oil. Leaves used to make scented chaplets for women. Young leaves especially used. (Best 1898, 1942, 1907, 1908; Colenso 1868; Cheeseman 1925; Kirk 1889)
Leaves fragrant when bruised, mixed with fat, used by Māori as perfume (Buchanan 1869).
Used in scenting shark oil (Matthews 1911).
The Ngāti Kahungunu chieftainess, Mahinarangi, wore raukawa perfume in her successful efforts to attract the Tainui chief, Turongo (Pei Te Hurinui 1945 ; [N.B. Te Hurinui says that raukawa is made from the leaves of the kawakawa tree]
Medicinal
See Riley 1994 for information on medicinal uses of related plants elsewhere in the world.
Notes
Māori claim to recognize two sexes of kōtara (Best 1942).
