| 释义 |
puka|ˈpʊkə|
[Maori.]
An evergreen New Zealand shrub or small tree, Griselinia littoralis, or G. lucida, a related, sometimes epiphytic, species, belonging to the family Cornaceæ and bearing leathery ovate leaves and panicles of tiny, greenish flowers followed by purple or black berries.
[1853J. D. Hooker Bot. Antarctic Voy.: Flora Novæ-Zelandiæ I. 98 Griselinia lucida... Nat[ive] name, ‘Poukater’. ]1889T. Kirk Forest Flora N.Z. 67 Mr. Colenso informs me that the Native name ‘puka’ is correctly applied to this species [sc. Griselinia lucida] as well as to Meryta Sinclairii. 1970M. E. Fisher et al. Gardening with N.Z. Plants i. 59 The puka is usually found perched high in the forks of some forest tree such as the rata.
2. A small evergreen tree, Meryta sinclairii, belonging to the family Araliaceæ, native to Australasia and the Pacific Islands, and bearing large glossy leaves and terminal panicles of greenish-white flowers followed by black berries. Also attrib.
1889T. Kirk Forest Flora N.Z. 245 The Puka... This noble species is..restricted to a few individuals growing on one or two small islands near the northern extremity of the colony. 1951Post-Primary School Bull. (Wellington, N.Z.) V. xii. 276 The puka (Meryta sinclairii)..has the largest leaves of any New Zealand tree. 1970M. E. Fisher et al. Gardening with N.Z. Plants i. 78 The puka is a much branched, small tree from 12 to 20 feet in height... The leaves of this handsome tree are a beautiful glossy green, nine to 20 inches long and half as broad, usually with the broadest part near the apex. They are leathery and strongly veined and the margin is wavy. |