For my pocket forest, I am to include plants that provide medicinal properties, as a way to promote the health benefits of the bathhouse, while also using plants that play a significant role to New Zealand, whether it is in the past, or the present.
Mahoe – Melicytus ramiflorus
The mahoe tree plays an important part of Maori culture; it is involved in the Maori legend that tells the story of Maui pranking the fire god, Mahuika. In the legend, mahoe was one of the trees that could produce fire when rubbing a kaikomako stick and a mahoe stick together. Hence the Maori often used mahoe as a base for firemaking.
Mahoe were also involved in Ta Moko (Maori tattoo art). Their berries, although not known to be edible for humans, were used as ink for a moko, along with vegetable caterpillar fungus and various gums and oils. The wood was crafted to create a soft mallet, used for tattooing.
The mahoe tree provides medicinal properties, where their leaves can be boiled and applied to scabs and sores. Their bark was also used to treat burns, and could be soaked in a bath to treat tuberculosis.
Kānuka – Kunzea ericoides
Kānuka shrubs are native to New Zealand, and have more than 10 species of kānuka, though most of these trees are endangered. Namely, there is a geothermal kānuka (Kunzea tenuicaulis), where it is normally only found in the Taupo volcanic zone.
Kānuka are essential to New Zealand environment, shifting the ecosystem toward forests which hold old-grown trees such as the kauri or rimu. Kānuka shrubs are able to grow in environments normal plants would not be able to survive in.
Kānuka is often used to treat ailments, and was considered as a “tea tree” by Captain Cook. The bark was boiled and drunk to treat diarrhoea, dysentery, and venereal disease. Kānuka oil, produced from the bark and leaves, provide anti-microbial properties, and is more recently used for cosmetic and health benefits.
Pūriri – Vitex lucens
The pūriri tree, along with the kauri, have been known to be one of the oldest trees in New Zealand, and are able to survive longer than other plants. It is stubborn in the way it is still able to produce new shoots even when cut, or rotten.
The pūriri tree is spiritually sacred, and significant to the Maori, as it is heavily involved in burials for the dead. Their leaves were used when those buried were a figure of high mana, such as a chief. The pūriri tree is also known to be one of the strongest woods in New Zealand, often used for purposes such as buildings, foundation blocks, structures, and fences.
The infusion of pūriri leaves were used for both internal and external pain: back ache, joint pain, ulcers, sore thorats, sprains. They were also used to preserve dead bodies.
Rimu – Dacrydium cupressinum
Rimu is one of the oldest trees native to New Zealand, and can grow up to 1000 years old, 50 metres tall. Second to kauri, it is commonly used as timber since 1910, as it is hard and dense enough to be used as flooring, weatherboards, and furniture. However, because they were constantly being cut down and used for building, the government has banned rimu from being cut down on public land.
The rimu also bears fruit at the end of its branches, which are edible to humans. However, consuming an excessive amount may cause constipation.
The rimu also has medical uses for wounds, where the bitter gum in rimu trees are used to stop them from bleeding, and its leaves were used for healing. For burned wounds, cuts, and ulcers, the inner bruised bark was used by turning it into pulp.
AUT Spatial Design 