Supplejack is a vine that grows throughout the lowland, coastal forest of New Zealand. Here are 9 twisty facts about this common native plant.
A friend of mine once told me something that I think nicely sums up this native vine. Supplejack is everywhere when you’re walking, causing you to duck and push out of the way. But, then it comes in handy to grab when you trip to keep you from falling down. Here are some basic facts along with lesser known tidbits about this native vine.
9 Supplejack Vine Facts
This is an endemic vine that grows throughout the coastal areas of New Zealand in lowland, native forest. It can be found on the North, South, and Stewart Islands. In fact, this is the most common vine in lowland forest.
The Maori name for this vine is kareao, but it’s the European name that is most commonly used. Supplejack was one of the first plants that was given a common European name. It was named during Captain Cook’s second trip to New Zealand and was recorded as supplejack in 1773.
This plant grows incredibly abundant and forms thick, sometimes impenetrable masses. The vines, consisting of dark brown stems, grow twisted this way and that way and make travel in some areas impossible.
I haven’t seen the leaves very often, but like all plants this vine has leaves. The leaves, which grow near the ends of the stems, are thick, leathery, and oval shaped.
One interesting thing about this vine is that there are clear bumps or knobs all along the vines. These are where the leaves grew at one time.
Supplejack has served many useful purposes for people in the past, both Maori and Europeans alike. Maori used some parts of the plant for medicinal purposes. They also used the stems for eel traps and to make ladders. Later the Europeans used the stems to make a drink, kind of like sarsaparilla.
This plant has small, inconspicuous white to green flowers from December to January. The flowers are then followed by berries. The small (1 cm), bright red berries can most often be seen from March to May. However, they may be seen year round.
This vine begins life on the forest floor as a small shrub. After a couple of years it will begin to change from a shrub to a vine and climb. It looks for something to grab onto and will grow anti-clockwise up around the support.
This vine grows super fast. During the summertime it can grow up to 5 cm a day!