Piper excelsum

Kawakawa is found throughout the North Island, and as far south as Okarito (43.20 °S) on the West Coast, and Banks Peninsula (43.5 °S) on the east coast of the South Island. The tree grows to 20 feet (6.1 m).[3]

The leaves are often covered with holes caused by the caterpillar of the kawakawa looper moth (Cleora scriptaria). The images depict the variety majus which has larger and more glossy leaves than P. excelsum.

Kawakawa was used as a traditional medicinal plant of the Māori.[4] An infusion made from the leaves or roots was used or its leaves were chewed to relieve toothache, and wounds were often bound in kawakawa leaves. The sweet edible yellow berries (most often found in summer on female trees) of the plant were eaten as a diuretic. Traditionally, leaves with holes that had been eaten by caterpillars were considered the best to use.[5]

In cultural contexts, host people of a marae wave leaves of kawakawa to welcome guests. At a tangi, both hosts and guests may wear wreaths of kawakawa on the head as a sign of mourning.[6]

Early European settlers to New Zealand used kawakawa in teas, and experimented using it as a flavouring agent in beer.[5] It is commonly grown as an ornamental plant in gardens.[7] Kawakawa essential oil contains myristicin, a deliriant when consumed in high concentrations.[5]

Kawakawa is sometimes called "Māori kava" and is often confused with the kava plant (Piper methysticum). While the two plants look similar and have similar names, they are different, albeit related, species.

Kava is a traditional plant and beverage of the South Pacific. The roots of the plant are used to produce a drink with medicinal, sedative, anesthetic, euphoriant, and entheogenic properties.[8] It is most likely not a coincidence that this plant has a similar name to kawakawa. One source stated: "In New Zealand, where the climate is too cold for kava, the Māori gave the name kawa-kawa to another Piperaceae, P. excelsum, in memory of the kava plants they undoubtedly brought with them and unsuccessfully attempted to cultivate. The Māori word kawa also means "ceremonial protocol", recalling the stylised consumption of the drug typical of Polynesian societies."[8]

The name kawakawa comes from the Māori language, where it refers to the bitter taste of the leaves, from kawa or bitter.[lower-alpha 1]

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  leaves and fruiting spikes
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  AM AK119988

• Domesticated plants and animals of Austronesia

• Media related to Piper excelsum at Wikimedia Commons
• Kawakawa, In: The Encyclopedia of Alternative & Natural Medicine