Kawakawa

Common Names: Pepper tree
Māori names: Kawakawa
Fruit: Tākawa (used for whole plant by Whakatohea – Kora 1941)
Botanical Name: Macropiper excelsum
Family: Piperaceae (Pepper family)

Description:
“Kawakawa” is the name given to the taste of its leaves, which is noticeably bitter and peppery. A dense shrub of up to 6m in height. It has joints all its trunk, branches and branchlets, these being swollen from where the leaves grow from. It is recognisable by its green to yellow heart shaped leaves, these have noticeable veining coming from the apex of the heart. Often the leaves have holes in, which are caused for the majority of time by the Kawakawa lopper moth caterpillar (Cleora scriptaria). The plant is aromatic. Kawakawa’s flows are upright catkins that can be found on both the male and female plant. The female plant’s flowers become a deep orange colour in summer.

KawaKawakawa can be throughout the North Island (Okarito on the west coast and Banks Peninsula from the east coast) and the northern half of the South Island, it grows well in coastal and lowland forests. Kawakawa likes to grow in shade to semi-shade in a moisture rich soil that drains well of water. It is sensitive to cold and frost but will tolerate some wind. The seeds can be sown on top of good seed raising soil. They will germinate 2-3 months following sowing.

Foraging:
Kawakawa it is best to collect from a healthy plant, away from areas of pollution, i.e. roads, agri-sprays. Collect leaves that have holes in caused by the lopper moth caterpillar. The act of chewing these leaves, makes the plant release chemicals to heal and defend itself, it is these extra chemicals that give Kawakawa its medicinal qualities.

Plant signatories:
Kawakawa are its heart shaped leaves and it’s knobbly stems, indicating it is good for heart and joint health.

Planting:
I wished to plant Kawakawa seeds for a number of reasons. I have several young Kawakawa trees on my property and I love them, I think they are such a potent herb. I have seen the leaves when used raw heal serious skin infections, ease tooth ache, infusion and decoctions ease urinary infection, ease joint pain, balms that heal skin and generally also used help a person feel better all over when used as a tonic. It is also an essential part of the land I am developing into a food forest, and would make an excellent native understory plant.

I gathered some Kawakawa fruit from Faulkner reserve in the middle of January, I notice a lot of birds enjoying these. The reserve has a great number of Kawakawa trees and is a spray free area. The trees were fruiting during this time, I was able to get a plentiful supple of female catkins in order to get seeds from.

I pressed the fruit through a sieve in order to extract the seeds. I then rinsed these and let them to dry. Once dry I kept some to plant for my sample. I am aware that Kawakawa would not be the fastest crop to grow but I wanted to see what I could grow during this time. Unsurprisingly I only grew little shrubs, which would not be big enough to havest however they will go onto be gorgeous trees. I am looking forward to watching them grow.

Constituents and Properties:
Myrsticin – analgesic and antiseptic; lignans – insecticide; antipyretic, blood purifier, diuretic, laxative, sedative. It is also used to treat gout and rheumatism, the signatory of the plant.

Caution:
Overuse may cause laxative and sedative issues. Drinking excessive amounts of Kawakawa (300-800mg/day) causes Kawaism, where the exfoliative dermatitis, where skin becomes flaky and the eyes red and rheumy. A general safety guideline is to drink Kawakawa tea for 10 days only, then have a break of 10 days before starting again.

Collection:
I used trees from my property to gain Kawakawa leaves for my remedy, as there were a fair number of them and I do not use agrisprays, growing as organically. I collected these on a warm spring morning in late September. The Kawakawa were growing on the hedge line at the top of a bank, under the larger Pungas and Walnuts in dappled sunlight. It was after 10:00 and the dew had dried by then. I collected a number of leaves, from various shrubs. My aim to collect the leaves with holes in, this is because this leaf has been eaten by the Kawakawa looper caterpillar. The process of eating the leaf causes the plant to release a chemical, which is one of the active medicine components.

Preparation:
One sample was placed in the flower press so it could be mounted in the herbarium. The leaves were then cleaned and dehydrated at 30oC over the course of several hours. The temperature was kept as low as possible in order to maintain vital phytonutrients. The Kawakawa was then stored in a labeled jar.

The seeds have a peppery taste. A drink of tea can be made by placing 2-3 leaves in boiling water and leaving to infuse for 10 minutes, however the ideal way to make this tea is more beneficial. The 2-3 fresh leaves per cup (or 1 dried teaspoon) are placed into saucepan and then bought to the boil and simmered for approximately 20minutes. The lid needs to be kept on the saucepan until the heating has finished and the saucepan has cooled down, otherwise valuable vapours are released. This drink contains far more beneficial nutrients and can be drunk daily as a tonic.

Medicine:
Traditionally Kawakawa was a sign of mourning, often worn by those grieving or waved by the host of a Marae (Maoori spiritual gathering place) at a Tangihana (funeral).

Kawakawa is still a valuable herb medicinally, all parts of the plant can be used (fruit, leaves, bark and root).

The fruit can be taken as a diuretic. The leaves can be taken as an infusion to treat toothache, stomach and bladder problems. The bark is often used mixed with the leaves to make infusions for skin conditions such eczema. The root was used to treat dysentery. The plant was also used for venereal diseases.

Common medicines seen today are Kawakawa ointments / balms, these are often used for skin complaints but frequently as a nappy balm, softening the skin, helping to heal any rashes and providing an analgesic effect. It is often taken as an infusion for its blood purifier qualities and to reduce the impact of stomach and respiratory ailments.

Dosage:
300mg or less per day.

Historical notes:
1842 Kawakawa is “…used in the place of tea, the taste is pleasant and very aromatic. Medicinally is esteemed as a purgative. These two plants (mānuka and kawakawa), together with fernroot which is a mild astringent are of much dietary service in the bush and one soon becomes reconciled to their taste. “ (Heaphy)

1945-47 “Miro gum mixed with kawakawa juice was a healing ointment” (Peterkin 1946)

1956-62 “Kawakawa leaves are valuable for cuts, wounds and festering sores. It pays to grow a tree in the garden, for a cut bound up with a green leave quickly heals, then the scalded leaf applied as a poultice to a fester or wound soon cures it. And there is no need for a chiropodist if you have easy access to kawakawa leaves.” (Glenn 1962)

Remedies:

Case Study:
A 57 year old female client who’s sleep is poor and problems with chronic eczema, anxiety, depression, digestive issues, arthritis, macular degeneration, blood pressure and hypothyroidism. There is an indication of intolerance to gluten and dairy however the client has no wish to change her diet. She drinks 15-20 cups of 300ml coffee per day, she rarely drinks water, even though she has been advised of the beneficial impact it would have on her if she increased her water consumption and decreased her coffee. Her diet poor, her family make wholesome meals, which she eats occasionally, otherwise she will eat poor quality processed food. The client is also a shift worker. They take thyroxine, Ibuprofen and propanol medication on a daily basis. No adverse effects are known between Kawakawa and these medication, however there is a limited amount of information on medicinal interactions as a whole for the native plants of New Zealand. The did however wish to try a herbal medicine to help with her achy joints. Kawakawa seemed perfect, not only is it a form of treatment for this condition it is also indicated in the signatory of the plant with its swollen nodes/joints. The plant is also a blood purifier, supporting the heart, again indicated by the shape of its leaves and supporting the liver in detoxification.

The client was shown how to make a decoction. This was done by boiling then simmering Kawakawa leaves in a saucepan for 20 minutes. It is important to keep the lid on the prevent the active ingredients being lost, the tea has to be cool before taking the lid off. 3 teaspoons of leaves were used to 3 cups of water until the water had halved. A half cup of this was drank three times a day. Double the amount could be made and stored in a fridge for 48 hours. This was taken for 7 days. Kawakawa should not be taken for longer 10 days, then a 10 day break is needed before restarting. This cycle then repeats. The client took this for a period of a week, drinking between 2 and 3 half cups a day. They reported that they had experienced an alleviation of some of their joint pain. Although they were still experiencing discomfort this seemed to of reduced in the level of intensity. Prior to the decoction they rated this at 5/10 on a bad day (0 being no pain and 10 the worst it could be) and 3-4 on most day. At the end of the week of taking the decoction this had reduced to 4 on a bad day and 2-3 on a good day. Obviously the clients health status as a whole and their choices would be effecting the outcome. Based on the use of the decoction for just the period of a week, it would be interesting to see what the result would be, either with a longer cycle of herbal therapy or if the client choose to make nutritional and lifestyle changes.