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Myoporum laetum

Common name:	Ngaio	Family:	Myoporaceae
Author:	G.Forst.	Botanical references:	44, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	All parts of the plant contain a liver toxin[173].
Range:	New Zealand.
Habitat:	Usually found by the coast, often to the high tide mark[128], it is also found in lowland forests on North, South and Chatham Islands south to latitude 46° s[44].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	1	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Nd [E], Ngaio Tree [P], Ngaio-tree [B],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	laetum = cheerful, joyous
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Scrophulariales. Myoporum family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	New Zealand
Noxious, Invasive and Injurious Weeds	From USDA PLANTS database, Weeds Australia , DEFRA Injurious Weeds
	Listed as noxious/invasive for: USA Invasive.

Physical Characteristics

An evergreen shrub growing to 6m by 3m at a medium rate. It is hardy to zone 9. It is in leaf all year, in flower from May to June. The scented flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs). We rate it 1/5 for edibility and 1/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils, requires well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in saline soil. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil. The plant can tolerate maritime exposure.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Sunny Edge, By Walls, By South Wall, By West Wall.

Edible Uses

Fruit.

Fruit - raw or cooked[153, 177]. The fruit is about 6 - 9mm in diameter[200]. Some caution is advised, see notes above on possible toxicity.

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Odontalgic Vulnerary.

Odontalgic, vulnerary. The bark is used to treat ulcers[61].

Other Uses

Repellent.

A decoction of the leaves is used as an insect repellent[128]. It is effective against mosquitoes[245].

Cultivation details

Easily grown in most soils[167] so long as they are well-drained[188]. Succeeds in dry soils[200] and in poor soils[188]. Very resistant to maritime exposure and salt spray[166].
This species is not very hardy in mainland Britain, it succeeds outdoors on the Scilly Isles[1] but usually requires greenhouse protection elsewhere[1]. Plants flower freely in Cornish gardens[1, 59]. Plants do not tolerate temperatures below 0° c[166].
The leaves emit a resinous smell when bruised[245]. The flowers are also fragrant[245].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in a greenhouse. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Consider giving the plants some protection from the cold for their first few winters outdoors.
Cuttings of half-ripe wood, 5 - 10cm with a heel, July/August in a frame. Pot up in the autumn. Good percentage[78].

Scent

Flowers: Fresh: The flowers are fragrant[245].
Leaves: Crushed: The leaves emit a resinous smell when bruised[245].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for the family Myoporaceae.

To be included in the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[44] Allan. H. H. Flora of New Zealand. Government Printer, Wellington. 1961
The standard work, in 3 volumes though only the first two are of interest to the plant project. Very good on habitats.

[59] Thurston. Trees and Shrubs in &ndndndnd.
Trees and shrubs that succeed in &ndndndnd based on the authors own observations. Good but rather dated.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[78] Sheat. W. G. Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. MacMillan and Co 1948
A bit dated but a good book on propagation techniques with specific details for a wide range of plants.

[128] Laing. and Blackwell. Plants of New Zealand. Whitcombe and Tombs Ltd 1907
An old flora of New Zealand in a readable style. Some details of plant uses.

[153] Brooker. S. G., Cambie. R. C. and Cooper. R. C. Economic Native Plants of New Zealand. Oxford University Press 1991 ISBN 0-19-558229-2
An interesting and readable book on the useful plants of New Zealand.

[166] Taylor. J. The Milder Garden. Dent 1990
A good book on plants that you didn't know could be grown outdoors in Britain.

[167] Holliday. I. and Hill. R. A Field Guide to Australian Trees. Frederick Muller Ltd. 1974 ISBN 0-85179-627-3
A well illustrated and very readable book, but it does not contain much information for the plant project.

[173] Crowe. A. Native Edible Plants of New Zealand. Hodder and Stoughton 1990 ISBN 0-340-508302
A very well written and illustrated book based on the authors own experiments with living on a native diet.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[188] Brickell. C. The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. 1990 ISBN 0-86318-386-7
Excellent range of photographs, some cultivation details but very little information on plant uses.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[245] Genders. R. Scented Flora of the World. Robert Hale. London. 1994 ISBN 0-7090-5440-8
An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.

Readers Comments

Myoporum laetum

S Frost (sfrost@calpoly.edu) Wed Feb 26 02:59:01 2003

Is it possible for the fruit of this plant, M. Laetum to eat the paint of off a car? Please let me know, thank you very much, sfrost@calpoly.edu

Myoporum laetum

lesley mcarthur (lesleymcarthur@shaw.ca) Sun Mar 23 06:04:37 2003

Does this plant contribute to allergic reactions or asthma?

Myoporum laetum

hiba (maa_sal@hotmail.com) Thu Apr 10 16:15:16 2003

Link: myoporum laetum forst active constituent

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
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