nutara
1. (noun) vegetable caterpillar, Cordyceps robertsii - actually a type of fungus. When the caterpillar of some moths retreats underground to start to form into a pupa, preparing to develop into a moth, the fungus starts to grow using the caterpillar’s body for food. As the fungus grows, it forms a shell around the caterpillar’s body, and slowly the whole thing dries out. The caterpillar is slowly turned into a mummy and is dried and preserved in the fungal casing. The fungus feeds from the nutrients in the caterpillar’s body. It slowly grows a small stem through the head of the caterpillar, which is the part of the body closest to the forest floor. The stem grows slowly until it pushes through to the forest floor, eventually producing spores.
See also āwhato
tarutaru
1. (noun) grass, weeds, small vegetation, cannabis, marijuana.
Ka kite au i ngā hipi me ngā koati e whāngaia ana rātou ki ngā tarutaru papai (KO 15/3/1883:7). / I saw the sheep and the goats being fed with good grass.
Synonyms: tarukino, taru rauhea
māheuheu
1. (noun) weeds, vegetation.
Ko Te Heuheu Tūkino Tuarua tēnei, tama a Te Heuheu Herea rāua ko Rangiaho. Ko te take o taua ingoa nō ngā otaota a waho o te ana o Te Rangi-pūmamao i Waihora, i te taha hauāuru o Taupō; ko aua otaota he māheuheu (JPS 1956:190). / This Te Heuheu Tukino was the second of that name and was the son of Te Heuheu Herea and Rangiaho. The name, Te Heuheu, was derived from the vegetation outside the cave of Te Rangipumamao at Waihora, on the western shores of Lake Taupō; the vegetation was called 'māheuheu'.
pāpapa
1. (noun) eggshell, husk, chaff, bran.
(Te Māhuri Study Guide (Ed. 1): 27;)
He uru hua rākau rahi anō tō rāua, ā, e 60 eka te rahi o te whenua whakatipu ōti, whakatipu pāri, hai pāpapa whāngai i ngā hōiho (TTR 1998:159). / They had a large orchard and 60 acres growing oats and barley to make chaff to feed the horses.
2. (noun) squash, kamokamo - a variety of vegetable marrow. This word seems to be peculiar to the northern Ngāti Kahungunu region.
He pēnā anō ngā tōhuka, ngā kānga, ngā pāpapa, ngā merengi, ngā kākāriki, ngā taro me ngā rīwai (HP 1991:14). / The sugar cane, maize, kamokamo, melons, rock melons, taro and potatoes were exactly the same.
3. (noun) beetle - used as a general term for beetles.
E whā ngā momo pāpapa i mau i a mātau (Ng 1995:30). / We caught four kinds of beetles.
4. (noun) common tiger beetle, Cicindela tuberculata, Neocicindela tuberculata - an endemic tiger beetle to Aotearoa/New Zealand. Adults are ground predators and larvae may live for several years in a hole in the ground, and grab and eat passing insects. Adults are commonly seen on clay banks in summer, running around and making short flights as they hunt other insects.
6. (noun) slater, pill bug, sow bug, woodlice - terrestrial Isopoda which vary slightly in appearance, but most are conspicuous and easily recognised by their elliptical, flattened segmented bodies, and seven pairs of legs. Colour is usually in the shades of grey, from dark to light, often mottled with green and yellow. Aotearoa/New Zealand slaters range in size from several millimetres to more than 2 cm in length. Slaters are mainly scavengers, feeding on a variety of decaying vegetation, tree bark, rotting wood, etc.
7. (noun) gumdiggers' soap, golden Tainui, kūmarahou, Pomaderris kumeraho - a native shrub with alternating, blue-green leaves on top and undersides pale with protruding veins. Flowers are creamy yellow in large, fluffy clusters. The whole plant is covered in a soft mat of hair. Found north of Bay of Plenty and Kāwhia.
See also kūmarahou
Synonyms: kūmara rau nui, kūmarahou
8. (noun) koropuka, bush snowberry, fool's beech, Gaultheria antipoda - native bushy shrub bearing rounded small leathery toothed leaves on hairy twigs. Hairs on twigs black mixed with shorter paler hairs. Flowers white, bell-shaped, solitary at base of leaf. Leaves alternating on stem, 7-10mm long by 6-10mm wide, sometimes much smaller at tip of twig, Fruit red or white.
See also koropuka
Synonyms: koropuka, takapo, tāwiniwini, taupuku
2. (modifier) overgrown (with vegetation), deserted, desolate.
Ko te whenua e takoto tūhea kau nei, koraha nei, me i ngakia, māna e whakaputa ake he kai hei oranga mō te kura, mō te kaiwhakaako hoki (MM.TKM 30/4/1857:8). / The land which lies waste and unproductive would, if cultivated, produce food as sustenance for the school and the teacher.
3. (noun) desolate place, deserted place.
Kua pēhia tātou ki raro, otiia ka hoki tātou, ka hanga i ngā tūhea (PT Maraki 1:4). / We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places.
3. (noun) mana transfer rod - a stick to which the mana of a dead person was attached in order to transfer the mana to his successor.
Ka mōhio mai a Ihenga e pērā ana te ngākau o tōna pāpā rāua ko tōna taina, a Tawake, kua kite tonu atu i te motu o te taringa. Kua waiho te otaota tapu ki runga ake o te urunga titi ai, kua tū atu ki runga karanga atu ai, “Haere mai, taihoa tātou e tangi. Tēnei te otaota o tō tuakana, o Tūhoro.” (JPS 1893:226). / Ihenga knew what was in the heart of his father and his younger brother, Tawake, for he had seen the torn ear. He then put the sacred wand on top of the pillow, and arose and said, “Come, we'll weep presently. This is the otaota of your older brother, Tūhoro.”
kōwaowao
1. (verb) (-tia) to overgrow, choke, overrun.
Ko te whakawhirinaki atu ki ngā whakatakoto o tērā o ngā reo kei te kōwaowao i tō rātou āhei ki te whakaputa whakaaro, he wairua Māori anō kei roto (HM 2/1994:3). / The reliance on the structures of that other language is choking their ability to express their thoughts in a way that is quintessentially Māori.
2. (noun) low vegetation.
I tētahi kokinga anō o te rori, i te taha o te pereti rerewē, ka huri tētahi taha o te kā ki roto kōwaowao, ākuanei he karawata i tahaki atu, i te mea pea kei tūtuki te kā ki taua karawata ka tere tonu te huri a te taraiwa, nā tēnei tonu ka tahuri, ka porepore haere te kā nei, nā te tūtukitanga ki te rākau ka tū (TPH 15/5/1912:4). / At another corner of the road, beside the railway bridge, the car veered to the other side into the vegetation and soon there was a culvert to one side, the driver turned sharply lest he hit the culvert. As a result the car flipped and rolled over and over until it struck a tree and stopped.
3. (noun) hound's tongue fern, Microsorum pustulatum subsp. pustulatum - scrambling or climbing native fern with a thick, fleshy, rambling stem. The long-stalked, very glossy, leathery fronds are strap-like when young, later wide and very deeply lobed. Common in forest and scrub on trees, rocks or dry ground.
Arā anō he aruhe i kainga e te Māori, tae atu ki ngā pihinga o te kōwaowao, te rereti, te mouku, te huruhuru whenua, te koru o te kiokio me te pikopiko (Te Ara 2011). / Māori ate other ground ferns, including the young fronds of hound’s tongue fern, rereti, hen and chickens fern and shining spleenwort. They ate the curled shoots of kiokio and common shield fern.
Synonyms: maratata, raumanga, pāraharaha
muhumuhu
1. (verb) (-a) to push through overgrown vegetation.
Tata ki te marama kotahi ngā hōia 1100 e muhumuhu haere ana kia takahia te 15 māero mai i Pēwhairangi (NZH 2016). / For nearly a month 1100 soldiers were pushing through overgrown vegetation to travel the 15 miles from the Bay of Islands.
2. (modifier) discontented, disaffected, muttering, disgruntled, dissatisfied.
I taua wā nei, ka riro mai i ngā pirihimana he kōrero whakaatu a tētehi tonu o ngā apataki muhumuhu a Puna (TTR 1996:223). / This time the police obtained testimony from a disaffected follower of Puna.
Synonyms: hamumu
3. (noun) rifleman, Acanthisitta chloris - Aotearoa/New Zealand's smallest bird, distinguished by its rounded wings, a very short stumpy tail and a fine, slightly upturned bill. The male is bright yellow-green above while the female is streaked dark and light brown and both have whitish underparts. Found in native forests and scrub.
See also tītitipounamu
Synonyms: kōhurehure, kotikotipa, kōtipatipa, kōtitititi, mōutuutu, titipounamu, tokepiripiri, momoutu, momotawai, kōrurerure, tāpahipare, pipiriki, pihipihi, tītitipounamu, hōutuutu, kikimutu, toirua, piripiri
hāwato
1. (noun) vegetable caterpillar, Cordyceps robertsii - actually a type of fungus. When the caterpillar of some moths retreats underground to start to form into a pupa, preparing to develop into a moth, the fungus starts to grow using the caterpillar’s body for food. As the fungus grows, it forms a shell around the caterpillar’s body, and slowly the whole thing dries out. The caterpillar is slowly turned into a mummy and is dried and preserved in the fungal casing. The fungus feeds from the nutrients in the caterpillar’s body. It slowly grows a small stem through the head of the caterpillar, which is the part of the body closest to the forest floor. The stem grows slowly until it pushes through to the forest floor, eventually producing spores.
See also āwhato
āwheto
1. (noun) caterpillar of the kūmara moth, caterpillar of the convolvulus hawk moth, Agrius convolvuli - a large caterpillar that was a pest in gardens, eating the leaves of the kūmara. Burrows into the ground in February to become a chrysalis.
Ki ētahi iwi he āwheto te anuhe (TTT 1/12/1924:s44). / To some tribes 'āwheto' is another name for an 'anuhe' (caterpillar).
See also hīhue
2. (noun) vegetable caterpillar, Cordyceps robertsii - actually a type of fungus. When the caterpillar of some moths retreats underground to start to form into a pupa, preparing to develop into a moth, the fungus starts to grow using the caterpillar’s body for food. As the fungus grows, it forms a shell around the caterpillar’s body, and slowly the whole thing dries out. The caterpillar is slowly turned into a mummy and is dried and preserved in the fungal casing. The fungus feeds from the nutrients in the caterpillar’s body. It slowly grows a small stem through the head of the caterpillar, which is the part of the body closest to the forest floor. The stem grows slowly until it pushes through to the forest floor, eventually producing spores.
See also āwhato
2. (verb) to grunt, snort.
I ōku haerenga ki ētahi kāinga i te mokemoke, i te manuheko noa iho o te āhua, i te nui o te poaka e horuhoru ana i tahi taha, i te kāhui kurī e auau ana i te aroaro, kāore kau he take hei pupuri i te wairua kori o te Māori i te kāinga, nā, ka mōhio au ki te take i ngākaunui ai te tangata ki te haere ki ngā pāparakāuta ki reira noho ai, he ngahau kē hoki i tōna ake kāinga (HKW 1/1/1902:2). / In my travels to some homes that were isolated, I saw that they were quite dirty, with many pigs grunting to one side and packs of dogs barking in front of you. It's pointless holding on to the lively spirit of the Māori at home, and I know the reason that a person was keen to go to the hotel to spend time, because it's more enjoyable than his own home.
3. (noun) vegetable caterpillar, Cordyceps robertsii - actually a type of fungus. When the caterpillar of some moths retreats underground to start to form into a pupa, preparing to develop into a moth, the fungus starts to grow using the caterpillar’s body for food. As the fungus grows, it forms a shell around the caterpillar’s body, and slowly the whole thing dries out. The caterpillar is slowly turned into a mummy and is dried and preserved in the fungal casing. The fungus feeds from the nutrients in the caterpillar’s body. It slowly grows a small stem through the head of the caterpillar, which is the part of the body closest to the forest floor. The stem grows slowly until it pushes through to the forest floor, eventually producing spores.
See also āwhato
mokoroa
1. (noun) larva or caterpillar of the pūriri moth - gnaws into the trunk of the pūriri tree and other trees. Lives on the sap, causing its eventual death.
He iti te mokoroa nāna i kakati te kahikatea (TTT 1/4/1923:9). / Although the mokoroa is small it attacks kahikatea. (A whakataukī suggesting that something that appears insignificant can bring down the mighty.)
2. (noun) vegetable caterpillar, Cordyceps robertsii - actually a type of fungus. When the caterpillar of some moths retreats underground to start to form into a pupa, preparing to develop into a moth, the fungus starts to grow using the caterpillar’s body for food. As the fungus grows, it forms a shell around the caterpillar’s body, and slowly the whole thing dries out. The caterpillar is slowly turned into a mummy and is dried and preserved in the fungal casing. The fungus feeds from the nutrients in the caterpillar’s body. It slowly grows a small stem through the head of the caterpillar, which is the part of the body closest to the forest floor. The stem grows slowly until it pushes through to the forest floor, eventually producing spores.
See also āwhato
2. (noun) greens, leafy vegetables.
He tāngata ahu māra te mahi a ngā Rikihana, ā, i mua o te haerenga, o te hokinga mai rānei o Īnia i te kura, he miraka kau, he kato manga, he kohikohi, he tapahi tāwhaowhao mai i te ākau wāna mahi (TTR 2000:225). / The Rikihanas were market gardeners and before or after school Īnia had to milk cows, pick vegetables, and collect and chop driftwood from the beach.
3. (noun) act (of a play).
Nāna i whakarite te puoro mō te whakamatuatanga i waenganui i ngā manga o te whakaari (RMR 2017). / She arranged the music for the interval between the acts of the play.
