The calm after the trauma
There's more to bush lawyer than the scars.
Bush lawyer, it will find you and it won't let you go (much like those American lawyers who hang on tight once they have their hooks into you, only letting go when they've extracted as much money as possible). Bush lawyer is more into blood than money.
Bush lawyer is a relative of the blackberry ( Rubus family), roses are in this family too and it is their evil thorns they have in common. It is a climbing/rambling plant so will be hanging across other plants just waiting for an exposed bit of skin to hook on to. Nasty.
Early Europeans in Aotearoa must've been desperate for jam as they used to pick the tiny little raspberry-like fruits and make jam out of them. I don't think I've ever seen a ripe bush lawyer berry (they are yellow to red in colour when ripe) as the rats and birds eat them before we even see them. And then imagine trying to pick them with all those thorns, bugger that.
The goodish news is that the green berries, when boiled, taste sweet, so if you are in the bush, hungry, lost and desperate, and have a pot, water, dry firewood and a handful of bush lawyer berries, you are in for a sweet treat.
Tātarāmoa is the original name for bush lawyer. Māori had many uses for this plant, but the one that most excites me is its sleep-inducing properties.
It also reduces anxiety and is good for headaches and migraines.
The guy I saw recommending it on Facebook suggested making tea with two or three leaves (fresh or dried) and steeped in a cup of boiling water for five to 10 minutes. It doesn't taste bad. However, the tea is not recommended for pregnant women.
While poking round the internet for information on this, I found a lovely website called Awhi Ora Rongoa, which provides information and products for sale, for use in rongoā medicine. They sell an oil made from tātarāmoa, or a tincture. The oil is massaged into your temples and neck for a good night's sleep. People were raving about it in the comments section.
I ended up buying some of the tincture to see if it is worth my while risking getting scratched to bits making my own version. My insomnia is famously hard to cure, but it will be worth a try, and, if it fails for me, I will have helped a small New Zealand business run by Māori women.
I thought there was heaps of tātarāmoa in the Orokonui estuary track bush, but a friend and I walked the whole track with eyes on full forage mode, and found nothing. But on a trip to Christchurch, I was taken for a walk around Pūharakekenui/Styx River catchment, which is an extraordinary piece of urban ecology, with native plantings, citizen science studies, river management, and planting of loads of trees and plants treasured for rongoā medicine. I found some tātarāmoa/bush lawyer growing there, so have done a wee experiment.
It is indeed calming and relaxing so would be worth a try for anyone with mild anxiety or sleep problems. Watching the news is enough to give a person anxiety these days, so it will be a very useful plant.
There is definitely plenty of tātarāmoa out there somewhere in local bush, just waiting to get its hooks into you.
Note: Do not use in pregnancy.
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Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- Otago Daily Times
The calm after the trauma
There's more to bush lawyer than the scars. Bush lawyer, it will find you and it won't let you go (much like those American lawyers who hang on tight once they have their hooks into you, only letting go when they've extracted as much money as possible). Bush lawyer is more into blood than money. Bush lawyer is a relative of the blackberry ( Rubus family), roses are in this family too and it is their evil thorns they have in common. It is a climbing/rambling plant so will be hanging across other plants just waiting for an exposed bit of skin to hook on to. Nasty. Early Europeans in Aotearoa must've been desperate for jam as they used to pick the tiny little raspberry-like fruits and make jam out of them. I don't think I've ever seen a ripe bush lawyer berry (they are yellow to red in colour when ripe) as the rats and birds eat them before we even see them. And then imagine trying to pick them with all those thorns, bugger that. The goodish news is that the green berries, when boiled, taste sweet, so if you are in the bush, hungry, lost and desperate, and have a pot, water, dry firewood and a handful of bush lawyer berries, you are in for a sweet treat. Tātarāmoa is the original name for bush lawyer. Māori had many uses for this plant, but the one that most excites me is its sleep-inducing properties. It also reduces anxiety and is good for headaches and migraines. The guy I saw recommending it on Facebook suggested making tea with two or three leaves (fresh or dried) and steeped in a cup of boiling water for five to 10 minutes. It doesn't taste bad. However, the tea is not recommended for pregnant women. While poking round the internet for information on this, I found a lovely website called Awhi Ora Rongoa, which provides information and products for sale, for use in rongoā medicine. They sell an oil made from tātarāmoa, or a tincture. The oil is massaged into your temples and neck for a good night's sleep. People were raving about it in the comments section. I ended up buying some of the tincture to see if it is worth my while risking getting scratched to bits making my own version. My insomnia is famously hard to cure, but it will be worth a try, and, if it fails for me, I will have helped a small New Zealand business run by Māori women. I thought there was heaps of tātarāmoa in the Orokonui estuary track bush, but a friend and I walked the whole track with eyes on full forage mode, and found nothing. But on a trip to Christchurch, I was taken for a walk around Pūharakekenui/Styx River catchment, which is an extraordinary piece of urban ecology, with native plantings, citizen science studies, river management, and planting of loads of trees and plants treasured for rongoā medicine. I found some tātarāmoa/bush lawyer growing there, so have done a wee experiment. It is indeed calming and relaxing so would be worth a try for anyone with mild anxiety or sleep problems. Watching the news is enough to give a person anxiety these days, so it will be a very useful plant. There is definitely plenty of tātarāmoa out there somewhere in local bush, just waiting to get its hooks into you. Note: Do not use in pregnancy.
Kiwiblog
2 days ago
- Kiwiblog
A hugely important document for NZ to learn from.
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2 days ago
- RNZ News
Alarm as whooping cough runs rampant in Bay of Plenty
Rotorua Hospital paediatrician Dr Danny de Lore says children most at risk were those living in communities where the immunisation rates were low. Photo: 123RF Doctors are alarmed by high rates of whooping cough (pertusssis) in Bay of Plenty and Lakes districts, with one in ten patients ending up in hospital. Since the national whooping cough epidemic was declared late last year, there have been more than 300 reported cases across the wider region, with more than 30 people hospitalised. Rotorua Hospital paediatrician Dr Danny de Lore said children most at risk were those living in communities where the immunisation rates were low. "The continued spread of whooping cough is deeply worrying, especially for pēpi under one year's old," Dr de Lore said. "We're seeing preventable hospitalisations. We know immunisation is the most effective protection, particularly for young children and hapū māmā." Pregnant women, babies and Māori whānau are being "disproportionately affected", with multiple babies needing continued hospital care. Dr de Lore said the best protection for babies was for their mother to get vaccinated during pregnancy, and for them to get their childhood vaccinations on time from six weeks to ensure ongoing protection. Infants and children: Vaccinations at 6 weeks, 3 months, 5 months, and again at 4 years. A further booster is given at age 11 years (school year 7. For more information: Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
