Native plants you didn't know could feed or heal you

Kōwaowao, or native bush lettuce, is a tasty treat and useful medicine. Picture by Hamiora Gibson

Kōwaowao – native bush lettuce (Lecanopteris pustulata)

Otherwise known as Hound’s Tongue fern, kōwaowao has a nutty, creamy, flavour a bit like macadamia nuts and serves as a staple replacement for salad in the bush. Eat the opaque ends of fresh fronds, which are especially abundant in spring. Kōwaowao grows up trees, on cliff faces and steep rocky banks. It’s sprawling habit helps stabilise land. It’s a tasty treat and a welcome delicacy after many days in the back blocks without access to store-bought fruit and vegetables. Kōwaowao is also a useful medicine. Its roots are a natural treatment for toothache when chewed, buying you time to get to a dentist.

Kohia – native passionfruit (Passiflora tetrandra)

Kohia is one of about 50 species of native passionfruit. It grows throughout New Zealand in bush margins and high up in the forest canopy. It is a clambering vine much like the garden variety of passionfruit. Fragrant yellow flowers in summer are followed by balloon-like orange, golden, or red fruit, which have a sweet, red, edible flesh. It grows around a bitter seed so take care not to crush that while eating the fruit. Kohia is a favourite food for birds like tui and silvereye, but also for rats. Trappers use it as a tool to monitor the impact of rats in forest settings. Their double-pronged front teeth leave a recognisable impression on the fruit’s white inner shell.

Horopito – native pepper tree (Pseudowintera colorata)

Horopito is antibacterial so is useful for washing your hands in the bush. Rub crushed leaves on your hands and fingers, allowing the antibacterial properties to work their magic. It can also be used in the same way to preserve aging meat when there’s no fridge to be had. Cut your steak, trim off any discolouration, and rub crushed horopito on it to lessen the bacterial load. Horopito also adds a peppery punch to the flavour.

Easily identifiable by its green leaves, tinged with red, rusty coloured spots, horopito has an abundance of volatile oils such as eugenol, polygodial and tannins, which are astringent. Those drying compounds make the plant an effective elixir for upset digestion and inflammation. It’s also a good form of pain relief.

Horopito helps encourage circulation, especially in cooler months. It is great for people who are prone to chilblains, poor circulation or varicose veins. Another function of this amazing plant is helping support the respiratory system — it can help with coughs and colds by working as an expectorant — bringing up mucus if need be.

Angiangi (Usnea barbata)

Angiangi is a type of lichen that grows on trees and is an important rongoā for the bush and people. Known as “the lungs of the forest”, it absorbs pollution, while also having powerful antibacterial, antiviral and antimicrobial properties. Angiangi can be taken topically and internally and effectively treats a wide range of ailments including wounds, infections, bacterial, yeast and fungal infections, rosacea, impetigo, staph, pain, cellulitis, athlete’s foot and acne. A lichen is a fungus that has partnered with tiny cells of algae. The fungus gives a home to these plant cells that can use light to produce sugars for use by both the algae and the fungus. Lichens can survive in harsh places, even on concrete footpaths, fence posts, and roads, where neither the fungus nor the algae could live on their own. However, Angiangi is only found in forests.