The native totara tree grows to a huge size and is common across New Zealand. Learn 6 facts about this tree, including why Maori revere it.
As a pakeha and non-native to New Zealand it has taken me time to learn and appreciate many of the native trees. One of the reasons for this is the simple fact that many of the trees here are not found anywhere else in the world. I have come to admire and recognise many of them, including the totara. This endemic tree played an important role in the history of New Zealand and was used by both Maori and pakeha. There is a Maori proverb states, ‘Kua hinga te totara i te wao nui a Tane.’ This alludes to how important and magnificent the tree is to the forest and the community.
6 Totara Tree Facts
The Latin name is Podocarpus totara. Thus, this is another species of the native trees that is a podocarp. Remember, podocarps are a type of conifer tree that reproduces with a female cone and then produces a seed at the tip of a fleshy fruit.
This is a common tree of the podocarp – broadleaf forest of New Zealand. There are now two species that are recognised (there used to be three) – the common totara (Podocarpus totara) and mountain totara (Podocarpus laetus).
The leaves are tiny (1 – 3 mm long by 3 – 4 mm wide), needle like, and sharp to the touch. Common totara grows up to 30 meters tall with a trunk diameter of up to 2 metres or more. It can be found across the country in lowland and mountain forest.
The bark is reddish/gray in colour, often deeply furrowed, and quite stingy.
Mountain totara goes by a few other names, Hall’s totara or thin-barked totara, all of which refer to the same tree. This is a smaller, shorter version of the common tree. It is shorter (up to 20 metres tall), and the bark, which is also reddish/gray, is thinner and more papery as opposed to the thick bark of the common species. This species also grows across the country in lowland, mountain, and subalpine forest. It is more common at higher altitudes than the common species.
The Maori used this massive tree to make their large waka, some of which could hold up to 100 warriors! The Maori used the trunks of these trees because they grow straight, were big, light, and rot resistant. Maori also used this wood to carve and the carvings that adorn many Marae are from the wood of totara.