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Historical loan words

puka

1. (noun) puka, Meryta sinclairii - a tree with large, shiny, leathery leaves found in warm climates and native to the Three Kings Islands and on the Hen and Chicken Islands. Fruit black and succulent. It is common as a garden tree in warmer parts of Aotearoa/New Zealand.

See also pukanui

Synonyms: pukanui


2. (noun) shining broadleaf, Griselinia lucida - a shrub with large, leathery, very glossy, alternating leaves. The fruit is dark purple. It often grows up in trees, extending its white, pliable roots down the trunk of the host tree, eventually becoming an independent tree.

See also akapuka

Synonyms: pukatea, akapuka, akakopuka


3. (noun) puka, Muehlenbeckia australis - a woody climbing plant to 10 m covering shrubs or small trees or trailing over rocks. Leaves ovate to 3-lobed or fiddle-shaped and dark green. Fruit black and wrinkled.

See also pōhuehue

Synonyms: pōhuehue, pukanui


4. (noun) swamp maire, Syzygium maire - a tree of swampy forests with a smooth-barked trunk, red berries and elliptic-oblong leaves tapering at each end and in pairs.

See also maire tawake

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