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Cyperus ustulatus. Toetoe upokotangata. Giant umbrella sedge.

Name document
Construction
Domestic
Medicinal
Pastime

Click to collapse Māori names Info

toetoe (general name for grasses and sedges); Toetoe upoko-tangata. Upoko-tangata (Best 1909) says name upoko-tangata is applied loosely to this plant and Scirpus fluviatilis (now Bolboschoenus fluviatilis).

toetoe whatu-manu (Best); toetoe whatu-pākau.

Click to collapse Domestic Info

Leaves, stripped of outside edges, used for mats and baskets (Colenso 1868b).

Click to collapse Construction Info

Used for outer thatch of houses (Colenso 1868a)

Click to collapse Medicinal Info

Pith boiled with water, strained, bottled. Used in North Auckland districts for kidney trouble (Adams 1945).

Related pharmacology in Brooker, Cambie and Cooper 1987

See Riley 1994 for information on medicinal uses of related plants elsewhere in the world.

Click to collapse Pastime Info

Used for making kites (Colenso 1868a; Best 1925)

Pākau: kite made of rushes etc. stretched on a frame.

Click to collapse Metadata Info

cb84778e-1afa-4527-a617-a0d3d5a096b7
name
28 May 2007
21 June 2020
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