Best. — Maori Forest Lore. 235 



fall of the leaves of the kotukutuku, were signs of certain birds 

 being in good condition — it was time to commence snaring the 

 same. There are a great number of such tohu (signs, tokens) 

 well known to that keen student of nature the Maori. He 

 may be a bit primitive, but he knows the functions of seeds 

 and the varied manifestations of Dame Nature in the wao tapu 

 nui a Tane. 



The Maori has two names for leaves — raw and wha. The 

 first is applied to all short or comparatively short leaves, how- 

 ever broad, while the long leaves, such as those of rawpo and 

 flax (Phormium), are termed wha. I have also heard the latter 

 term applied to leaves of the toi (Cordyline indivisa), kiekie, 

 mauri, &c. Wha taro or whawha taro is the leaf-stalk of the 

 taro. Some Natives maintain that while a wha raupo implies 

 the whole leaf, a flax-leaf, owing to its different form, contains 

 two wha — i.e., that each half of the leaf is a wha. This is pos- 

 sibly correct. Sir George Grey, in his " Whakapepeha," gives 

 a Maori proverbial saying, " He wha tawhara ki uta, he kiko 

 tamure ki toi," and translates wha tawhara as the " broad fruit 

 of the tawhara.'''' Tawhara are the flower-bracts of the kiekie, 

 which are eaten by Natives. 



Young shoots of the rarauhe fern are termed mokehu. The 

 word kotau is employed to denote young shoots, as those of 

 tutu, pirita, &c, and those of rarauhe before they appear above 

 ground. The word pitau has a similar meaning, but is more 

 often applied to young curled unexpanded fronds of tree-ferns. 

 The word koata is used for the unexpanded fronds of tree-ferns 

 before they reach the kotau stage of growth, also to those of the 

 nikau, and many other trees, &c, of similar growth. One also 

 hears koata applied to young shoots, as those of the tutu. Pihi 

 is the general term for shoots of plants ; and the horns of cattle, 

 goats, &c, are also termed pihi usually, but in the Waikato 

 district are called maire. The term rito seems to be equivalent 

 to koata, and is applied to the young unexpanded leaves or 

 heart of a plant. The word komata means young shoots of 

 plants and trees. The old dead leaves of certain acrogenous 

 plants — toi (Cordyline indivisa), and ti (C. australis), and others, 

 as also those of flax (Phormium) — which dry leaves hang down 

 in masses for years ere they become separated from the trunk — 

 that is, in sheltered situations — are termed koka and kuka. The 

 former term, says one authority, is applied to those leaves just 

 turning a brownish colour — the first symptom of decay ; while the 

 leaves of previous years, which are quite dry, are called kuka. 

 The kuka of C. indivisa are used in the making of rough rain- 

 capes, as loosely hanging outside pieces to turn the rain. These 

 two terms apply only to such leaves as are termed wha, and 



