| Kāmahi | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Oxalidales |
| Family: | Cunoniaceae |
| Genus: | Weinmannia |
| Species: | W. racemosa |
| Binomial name | |
| Weinmannia racemosa |
|
Weinmannia racemosa, Kāmahi, a medium-sized tree of the family Cunoniaceae, is a very common tree in New Zealand, occurring in lowland, montane, and subalpine forests and shrubland from the central North Island south to Stewart Island.
According to the 1966 Encyclopedia of New Zealand, it is 'the most abundant forest tree in New Zealand'.[1] Sometimes beginning life as an epiphyte on the trunks of tree ferns, kāmahi attains its greatest height of 25 or more metres in the Catlins forests of the south-eastern South Island. It has small creamy-white flowers in erect spikes. Kāmahi generally occurs with other broadleaf trees, at times acting as a pioneer species which is eventually succeeded by the southern beeches (Nothofagus spp.) or podocarps. In forests to the west of the Southern Alps it grows in association with southern rātā (Metrosideros umbellata). Because the wood of kāmahi has a tendency to warp or crack, it is little used despite its abundance. A closely related tree, tōwai or tawhero (W. silvicola), replaces kāmahi in the North Island north of latitude 37°S.