Puriri

= = = //** The Puriri tree **// =


 * The Puriri leaves were fashioned in to coronets or carried in the hand during a tangi
 * Puriri timber is usually greenish dark-brown, but sometimes nearly black or streaked with yellow
 * The Maori preferred other timbers to Puriri as its cross-grain made for difficult carving, but Puriri garden tools and weapons had a long life and legend has it that buckshot used to ricochet off Puriri palisades
 * It was used in the construction of hinaki(eel traps) because it was one of the few timbers that would sink.


 * The trunk of the tree often has finger sized holes in it.
 * [[image:virtualtourmeadowbank/Puriri Flower.jpg]]The fruit of the Puriri is bright red.
 * Kereru can swallow the large, round, red Puriri berries in one gulp.