Te Mära Reo ~ Naupata / Taupata

NOTE - THIS PROTO-PAGE IS STILL IN THE EARLY STAGES OF CONSTRUCTION!

The New Zealand naupata or taupata is also known as mämängi (an inherited name which it shares with another coprosma, C. arborea), and angiangi (also a heritage name, shared with a widely-distributed lichen, Usnea barbata).

In Aotearoa, the name naupata and its common variant taupata are used only for Coprosma repens, an amazing shrub and tree. Like some of the Scaevola species which have cognate names in other parts of Eastern Polynesia, it is a remarkably resilient plant, with an ability to adapt to a variety of situations - a small, stunted, often prostrate shrub or bizzarely contorted tree growing on or among rocks aparently devoid of soil in exposed coastal situations, or a tree six metres or more high with its dazzling bright-green foliage reflecting the sunlight in a protected situation with rich soil. It is often used as a hedge plant as it will stand an infinite amount of clipping and shaping, and its orange-red berries are highly attractive to birds, and can also be eaten by people, although it seems that they were only occasionally part of the traditional Maori diet, at least for adults. The seeds, although small, can be roasted and provide a potable coffee substitute (the Coprosmas are members of the coffee family, Rubiaceae). Taupata coffee beans have an authentic aroma, although afficianados would be unlikely to prefer the taste of naupata coffee to that of the real thing,

The naupata was one of the Coprosmas associated with cleansing rituals to counteract or forestall spiritual or physical contamination or illness, although other species such as C. robusta and C. lucida were more commonly used for these purposes. The naupata, under its alternative name mämängi, does feature in one proverb: He pü mämängi kï tahi, "A clump of taupata with a single word" -- that is, the berries are ripe in May, indicating definitively that summer and autumn have passed, and the cold season is here. [Meade & Grove, 662]