Myoporum laetum#Maori legend

Ngaio is a fast-growing evergreen shrub or small tree that sometimes grows to a height of {{convert|10|m|ft|sigfig=1}} with a trunk up to {{convert|0.3|m|ft|sigfig=1}} in diameter, or spreads to as much as {{convert|4|m|ft|sigfig=1}}. It often appears dome-shaped at first but as it gets older, distorts as branches break off. The bark on older specimens is thick, corky and furrowed. The leaves are lance-shaped, usually {{convert|52-125|mm|in|sigfig=1}} long, {{convert|15-30|mm|in|sigfig=1}} wide, have many translucent dots in the leaves and edges that have small serrations in approximately the outer half.{{cite book|last1=Chinnock|first1=R.J. (Bob)|title=Eremophila and allied genera : a monograph of the plant family Myoporaceae|date=2007|publisher=Rosenberg|location=Dural, NSW|isbn=9781877058165|pages=115–117|edition=1st}}{{cite web|title=Myoporum laetum|url=http://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora_details.aspx?ID=992|publisher=New Zealand Plant Conservation Network|access-date=1 December 2015}}{{cite book|last1=Dawson|first1=John|last2=Lucas|first2=Rob|title=Nature guide to the New Zealand forest|date=2000|publisher=Godwit|location=Auckland, N.Z.|isbn=1869620550|page=116|edition=2007}}

The flowers are white with purple spots and are borne in groups of 2 to 6 on stalks {{convert|7-15|mm|in|sigfig=1}} long. There are 5 egg-shaped, pointed sepals and 5 petals joined at their bases to form a bell-shaped tube {{convert|3.5-4.5|mm|in|sigfig=1}} long. The petal lobes are {{convert|4.5-5.5|mm|in|sigfig=2}} long making the flower diameter {{convert|15-20|mm|in|sigfig=1}}. There are four stamens that extend slightly beyond the petal tube and the ovary is superior with 2 locules. Flowering occurs from mid-spring to mid-summer and is followed by the fruit which is a bright red drupe {{convert|6-9|mm|in|sigfig=1}} long.File:Ngaio flower.jpg

Myoporum laetum was first formally described in 1786 by Georg Forster in Florulae Insularum Australium Prodromus.{{cite book |last1=Forster |first1=Georg |title=Florulae insularum Australium :prodromus |date=1786 |location=Gottingae |page=44 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/41812#page/52/mode/1up |access-date=22 November 2022}} The specific epithet (laetum) means "cheerful, pleasant or bright".{{cite book |author=William T. Stearn |title=Botanical Latin. History, grammar, syntax, terminology and vocabulary |date=1992 |publisher=Timber Press |location=Portland, Oregon |edition=4th|page=438}}

Ngaio grows very well in coastal areas of New Zealand including the on the Chatham Islands. It grows in lowland forest, sometimes in pure stands, others in association with other species such as nīkau (Rhopalostylis sapida).

Myoporum laetum has been introduced to several other countries including Portugal, South Africa and Namibia. It is considered an invasive exotic species by the California Exotic Pest Plant Council.{{cite web|title=Myoporum laetum|url=http://www.cal-ipc.org/ip/management/ipcw/pages/detailreport.cfm@usernumber=63&surveynumber=182.php|publisher=California Invasive Plant Council|access-date=1 December 2015}}

The Māori would rub the leaves over their skin to repel mosquitoes and sandflies.{{cite web|title=Story: Sandflies and mosquitoes|url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/sandflies-and-mosquitoes/page-3|publisher=Teara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand|access-date=1 December 2015}}

Ngaio is a hardy plant that will grow in most soils but needs full sun. It can also tolerate exposure to salt spray.{{cite web|title=Myoporum laetum|url=http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Myoporum+laetum|publisher=Plants for a Future|access-date=1 December 2015}} It can be grown from seed or from semi-hard cuttings.

The leaves of this tree contain the liver toxin ngaione, which can cause sickness and or death in stock such as horses, cattle, sheep and pigs.Encyclopaedia of Clinical Toxicology: A Comprehensive Guide and Reference, by Irving S. Rossoff

{{See also|Man in the Moon}}

According to Māori legend,{{cite web|title=Stories Of Old - Rona and the Moon|url=http://www.maori.org.nz/korero/default.php?pid=sp67&parent=55|publisher=Maori.org}} a Ngaio tree can be seen on the Moon. Here is the story, as recounted by politician, historian, poet William Pember Reeves (1857–1932):

{{Blockquote|The man in the moon becomes, in Māori legend, a woman, one Rona by name. This lady, it seems, once had occasion to go by night for water to a stream. In her hand she carried an empty calabash. Stumbling in the dark over stones and the roots of trees she hurt her shoeless feet and began to abuse the moon, then hidden behind clouds, hurling at it some such epithet as "You old tattooed face, there!" But the moon-goddess heard, and reaching down caught up the insulting Rona, calabash and all, into the sky. In vain the frightened woman clutched, as she rose, the tops of a ngaio-tree. The roots gave way, and Rona with her calabash and her tree are placed in the front of the moon for ever, an awful warning to all who are tempted to mock at divinities in their haste.{{cite web|title=The Long White Cloud, by William Pember Reeves|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/12411/12411-h/12411-h.htm|publisher=The Project Gutenberg eBook|access-date=1 December 2015}}}}

• Catherine Alexander (botanist)

{{Commons category|position=left|Myoporum laetum}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q153042}}

laetum

Category:Trees of New Zealand

Category:Plants described in 1786

Category:Moon myths

Category:Flora of New Zealand