Pōkākā

Botanical name: Elaeocarpus hookerianus
Synonyms: None
Common name(s): Pōkākā

About:
Pōkākā is a distinctive endemic forest tree best known for the dramatic difference between its juvenile and adult forms. Young plants develop dense tangles of slender zigzagging branches carrying small, narrow and variably toothed leaves. As the tree matures, it changes into a more conventional upright tree with straight branches and much larger leathery leaves.

It produces small drooping clusters of fringed white flowers followed by oval purple fruit. Although related to hīnau, pōkākā is generally smaller and has darker, narrower leaves, smaller flowers and smaller fruit.

Natural habitat:
Occurs in lowland to montane native forest, from valley floors and damp gullies to cool upland slopes and mountain forests.

It is particularly tolerant of cold conditions and is often more common at higher elevations in the northern part of its range. It may grow in both wetland and non-wetland situations, including forest margins, stream terraces and well-drained forest slopes.

Growing environment:
Grows in full sun, partial shade or forest shade and tolerates a wide range of soils and moisture conditions. It performs best in deep, moist, fertile soil with a generous layer of organic mulch.

Young plants benefit from shelter, but established trees are hardy, cold tolerant and surprisingly resistant to drought. It can withstand heavier frost than many lowland native trees.

Endemic distribution:
Endemic to New Zealand. Found throughout the North, South and Stewart Island/Rakiura, although it is uncommon from Auckland northwards.

Height:
Usually 6–12 m

Width:
Approximately 3–7 m at maturity

Flowering:
October–January

Fruiting:
November–March, occasionally continuing into June

Uses:
• Native forest restoration
• Cold-climate native planting
• Wildlife gardens
• Specimen tree
• Forest margins and shelter planting
• Educational planting demonstrating juvenile foliage
• Habitat and food source for native wildlife

Appearance:
Growth habit:
A small to medium evergreen canopy tree. Juvenile plants have a strongly divaricating habit, with dense interlacing branches forming a tangled, wiry framework.

As the plant matures, it gradually loses this juvenile form and develops straighter, more upright branches and a rounded crown.

Trunk/Bark:
The trunk may reach up to approximately 1 m in diameter on old trees. Bark is pale grey to grey-brown and becomes rougher with age.

Juvenile branches:
Young branches are slender, circular in cross-section and repeatedly angled, producing the characteristic zigzagging and interlaced form.

This circular branch shape helps distinguish juvenile pōkākā from the superficially similar Pittosporum turneri, which has more angular or hexagonal young stems.

Juvenile leaves:
Juvenile leaves are small, commonly less than 5 cm long, and vary greatly in shape. They may be linear, lance-shaped, lobed, wavy, deeply toothed or irregularly serrated.

Their colour ranges from glossy olive-green to bronze or brownish green. The leaves are scattered along the dense network of slender branches.

Adult leaves:
Adult leaves are leathery, smooth and approximately 3–11 cm long and 1–3 cm wide. They are lanceolate to narrow-oblong, with blunt or pointed tips.

The upper surface is dark green and glossy. Margins are flat rather than rolled downward and vary from slightly wavy to crenate or bluntly toothed.

Small pits known as domatia may be present on the lower surface near the leaf veins.

Flowers:
Flowers are borne in slender drooping racemes. Each small flower is approximately 6–10 mm across and hangs from a stalk about 1 cm long.

The petals are greenish white to white and divided into four to seven narrow lobes, giving them a delicate lacy or fringed appearance. The flowers contain both male and female structures.

Fruit:
The fruit is a small fleshy oval or egg-shaped drupe, usually about 8 mm long. It ripens to purplish or dark purple.

The hard inner stone has a wrinkled surface and encloses the seed.

Seeds:
Seeds are enclosed within the hard woody endocarp. Germination may be delayed while moisture penetrates the stone and natural dormancy is broken.

Ecology:
Pōkākā provides fruit for native birds and other animals capable of swallowing or carrying its small fleshy drupes. These animals disperse the seed away from the parent tree.

Its dense juvenile branching may have evolved as protection against browsing by extinct large flightless birds. The small, irregular leaves and interlacing stems would have made young plants difficult to feed upon.

The species occupies a broad ecological range and may occur in both damp ground and comparatively dry forest. It occasionally hybridises naturally with hīnau where the two species grow together.

Associated habitats:
Lowland broadleaved forest, podocarp–broadleaved forest, montane forest, swamp forest margins, stream terraces, cool gullies and forest edges.

Associated trees and shrubs may include hīnau, kāmahi, māhoe, horopito, broadleaf, wineberry, kōhūhū, rimu, miro, kāhikatea and southern rātā.

How to grow:
Plant in full sun or partial shade in moist, well-drained soil. Enrich poor soils with composted organic matter and apply mulch around the root zone to retain moisture.

Water regularly while the tree establishes. Once well rooted, it becomes comparatively drought tolerant and withstands cold, exposed conditions better than many native forest trees.

Allow room for the plant to progress naturally through its unusual juvenile phase. Avoid heavy formative pruning, as the tangled early growth is a normal and characteristic stage of development.

Propagation:
Propagation is usually from fresh fruit. Remove the fleshy pulp, clean the hard stones and sow them in a moist, free-draining seed-raising medium.

Cover the stones lightly and keep the container shaded and consistently moist. Germination is generally reliable but can be slow and irregular because of the hard inner seed covering.

Freshly collected fruit usually produces the best results.

Cultural use:
Pōkākā is the established Māori name for this distinctive native tree. No major traditional food or fibre uses are as widely documented as those of its close relative hīnau, but the species remains an important component of Aotearoa’s forest heritage.

The botanical name Elaeocarpus refers to the olive-like fruit. The specific name hookerianus honours the British botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker, an influential nineteenth-century authority on New Zealand plants.

Garden value:
Pōkākā is an excellent tree for native restoration, cold districts and gardens where its unusual juvenile form can be appreciated. The dense zigzagging branches and small bronze-green leaves provide strong architectural interest before the plant transforms into its mature tree form.

Its hardiness, tolerance of varied soils and moisture levels, attractive white flowers and wildlife-friendly fruit make it a valuable addition to larger native gardens, reserves and ecological planting projects.