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Carpodetus serratus
Also called White Mapau
Carpodetus serratus, commonly known as marbleleaf and putaputawētā, is a species of tree in the family Rousseaceae. It is endemic to New Zealand; its range mainly covers the North, South, and Stewart Islands. The species is commonly found on river banks and the margins of forests. It is a monoecious tree reaching up to 10 metres (30 feet) in height. Its young stage resembles a divaricating tangled shrub with branchlets arranged in a zig-zag pattern.
Carpodetus serratus was first described in 1776 by the German naturalists Georg and Johann Reinhold Forster. Pollination is likely achieved by insects, but the tree is potentially capable of self-pollination. The tree often has holes in the trunk which is a result of being tunnelled by pūriri moths (Aenetus virescens). These tunnels are then inhabited by wētā, hence the Māori name putaputawētā referring to many wētā emerging.
The fruits are dispersed by fruit-eating animals (frugivores), such as birds. Burrows (1996) recorded that C. serratus fruits were consumed by silvereyes (Zosterops lateralis). The fruits are also eaten by New Zealand bellbirds (Anthornis melanura) and North Island kōkako (Callaeas wilsoni), which compete for the fruits from possums. The divaricating tangled characteristic of the tree may have prevented the leaves from being eaten by the extinct moa, but the fruits were eaten by them. The kererū (Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae) eats both the fruits and leaves.
Carpodetus serratus has several Māori names, including, kai-wētā, putaputawētā, punawētā, putāwētā, piripiriwhata, and piripiri wata. The name putaputawētā refers to many wētā emerging. Other variations of the name of the plant often refer to wētā, or spleenworts of the genus Asplenium, which is piripiri in Māori. The wood of C. serratus is white and open in the grain. Evidence presented by museum artefacts suggest a teka (footrest) was made from C. serratus wood.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Carpodetus serratus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
