New Zealand’s native tawa tree is common throughout lowland forests in the country. Here are 7 facts about this abundant native tree.
I will be honest with you here, it took me a long time to learn about and be able to identify tawa trees. When I first moved here 5 years ago my attention was focused on other trees that stood out more. I got to know kauri, rimu, pohutukawa, and the beech trees. Those were the rock stars that got my attention. Now I really appreciate and see tawa trees everywhere when I’m out exploring the North Island. I hope that these facts about the tree will help you appreciate it more than I did initially.
7 Tawa Tree Facts
Tawa is an erect, broadleaf evergreen tree that can grow up to 30 meters tall. The trunk of this tree is darkish colour and smooth in appearance, but can get covered in lichen.
The leaves on the tree are a light green colour, elongated with a pointed tip. The leaves are often described as being willow like. That is all good, but it’s hard to see the leaves on a mature tree when they are way up above you in the canopy.
This is often the dominant canopy tree of native lowland forests in the central parts of the North Island and parts of the South Island. In some areas when I’ve been out walking the ground is covered in the dead leaves that have fallen off the tawa tree.
As these trees gets old they will sometimes grow buttressed roots in order to help stabilise them. In very old trees, these buttressed roots can be quite large.
The fruits, which develop in March/April, are about the size of an olive (2 – 3.5 cm long). The dark red plum coloured fruits are eaten by kereru. The large size of these fruit mean that the only native birds that are able to disperse the seeds are kereru. They are able eat the fruit and pass on the seeds unharmed. Thus, to make this clear – tawa relies on kereru for dispersal of its seeds.
Tawa are important for a variety of native wildlife. In addition to Kereru, which eat the fruit, the trees also provide homes for native insects and reptiles. In fact, a grove of tawa in the central part of the North Island is one of the only areas where Mahoenui giant weta live.
These trees grow quite old and large and become host to heaps of epiphytes. Large trees can become covered in epiphytes hanging all over their branches and trunks.