Author: Rob Tipa

These stories of native plants of the South Island describe how Māori grew and processed the plants, and they uncover some surprising uses of the plants. The particular features of the native plants are discussed alongside Māori traditions around them.

Written by a journalist, the book is engaging, enlightening and user-friendly, with each plant listed alphabetically for quick reference, and it is beautiful to browse and informative about the native plants.

Knowledge about traditional harvesting and processing of native plants dwindled as imported products replaced old ones. Today, though, there is new interest in the ways native plants can provide us with food, fiber, building materials and medicines.

These stories of native plants of the South Island of Aotearoa New Zealand describe the characteristics of the plants and the ways that Māori and European settlers grew and processed them, and they uncover some surprising uses of common native plants.

Rob Tipa (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Kahungunu) is a freelance journalist. For more than ten years, he researched and wrote about traditional uses of New Zealand native plants. Rob and his partner, Stella, have landscaped amd restored native bush on their property, planting tōtara, kahikatea, miro, kōwhai, kamahi, rewarewa, tainui and tāwhai, some of which are now 10 metres tall.