Pua o te Rēinga - return of the Flower of the Underworld

Iwi representatives & conservationists journey to Zealandia sanctuary to plant seeds of the mysterious parasitic flowering plant Dactylanthus or flower of the underworld.

Seeds from one of New Zealand's most mysterious plants have been planted in central Wellington - but it'll be at least five years before it's known if the translocation has been successful.

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Te Pua o te Rēinga, or flower of the underworld, is New Zealand's only fully parasitic flowering plant. It parasitises the roots of trees such as five-finger and lives underground until it flowers, when its nectar-laden flowers push through to the forest floor.

Also known as waewae Atua, the toes or fingers of the Gods, and Dactylanthus taylori, pua o te Rēinga is naturally pollinated by pekapeka, short-tailed bats.

Natural populations of pua o te Rēinga have disappeared from the Wellington region, but efforts are being made to return the species to its former range.

The translocation involves, for the first time in a conservation project, all six iwi from across the Greater Wellington region: Rangitāne, Ngāti Kahungunu, Taranaki Whānui, Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Te Āti Awa ki Whakarongotai and Raukawa.

Holden Hohaia is one of the local iwi, te hau kāinga, with affiliations to Te Āti Awa and Taranaki Whānui

"It brings all together all our iwi, all our whanaunga on our eastern and western side, and gets us working on a kaupapa together," says Holden. "Te pua o te Rēinga actually unites us in a shared kaitiaki responsibility, so that's awesome."

The translocation took place in October 2020.

A group of iwi representatives and conservation staff from Wellington City Council and Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne ecosanctuary went to Pureora Forest to meet the iwi kāinga (Ngāti Rereahu and Ngāti Maniopoto) and collect kākano or seeds.

Hundreds of seeds were then planted at several sites at Otari-Wilton's Bush and Zealandia.

Sharlene Maoate-Davis (Ngati Toa Rangatira, Ngati Wehiwehi, Ngati Huia, Taranaki tuturu, Te Atiawa) says "it's a new love affair that's developed here with te pua o te Rēinga."

She says that a lot of Wellington iwi trace their ancestry back to Taranaki, where there are still natural populations of the plant.

"So kind of reconnecting all the dots together, that's what I think it's doing," says Sharlene.

We won't know for at least five years whether the seeds have successfully germinated and formed an attachment to a suitable tree root…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details