or Toot
Maori name for ashrub or small tree, Coriaria ruscifolia, Linn., or C. sarmentosa, Forst., of New Zealand, widelydistributed. It bears greenish flowers, and shiny pulpy blackberries. From these the Maoris make a wine resembling lightclaret, taking care to strain out and not to crush the seeds,which are poisonous, with an action similar to that ofstrychnine. It goes also by the name of Wineberry-bush,and the Maori name is Anglicised into Toot. In Maori,the final u is swallowed rather than pronounced. InEnglish names derived from the Maori, a vowel after a muteletter is not sounded. It is called in the North Island Tupakihi. In Maori, the verb tutu means to behit, wounded, or vehemently wild, and the name of the plantthus seems to be connected with the effects produced by itspoison. To «eat your toot» : used as a slang phrase; to becomeacclimatised, to settle down into colonial ways.
1857. R. Wilkin, in a Letter printed by C. Hursthouse,`New Zealand,' p. 372:
«The plant called `tutu' or `toot' appears to be universal overNew Zealand. If eaten by sheep or cattle with empty stomachs,it acts in a similar manner to green clover, and sometimescauses death; but if partaken of sparingly, and with grass, itis said to possess highly fattening qualities. None of thegraziers, however, except one, with whom I conversed on thesubject, seemed to consider toot worth notice; . . . it israpidly disappearing in the older settled districts and willdoubtless soon disappear here.»
1857. C. Hursthouse, `New Zealand,' p. 395:
«The wild shrub Tutu ( Coriaria ruscifolia), greedilydevoured by sheep and cattle, produces a sort of `hoven'effect, something like that of rich clover pastures when stockbreak in and over feed. . . . Bleeding and a dose of spiritsis the common cure. . . Horses and pigs are not affected byit.»
1861. C. C. Bowen, `Poems,' p. 57:
«And flax and fern and tutu grew In wild luxuriance round.»
1867. F. Hochstetter, `New Zealand,' p. 139:
«The toot-plant, tutu or tupakihi of the Maoris ( Coriariasarmentosa, Forst. = C. ruscifolia, L.), is a smallbush, one of the most common and widely distributed shrubs ofthe islands. [New Zealand.] It produces a sort of `hoven' ornarcotic effect on sheep and cattle, when too greedily eaten.It bears a fruit, which is produced in clusters, not unlike abunch of currants, with the seed external, of a purple colour.The poisonous portion of the plant to man are the seeds andseedstalks, while their dark purple pulp is utterly innoxiousand edible. The natives express from the berries an agreeableviolet juice (carefully avoiding the seed), called nativewine.»
1872. A. Domett, `Ranolf,' p. 103:
«The tutu-tree,
Whose luscious purple clusters hang so free
And tempting, though with hidden seeds replete
That numb with deadly poison all who eat.»
1883. J. Hector, `Handbook of New Zealand,' p. 131:
«Tupakihi, tree tutu. A perennial shrub ten to eighteen feethigh; trunk six to eight inches in diameter. The so-calledberries (fleshy petals) vary very much in succulence. . . .The juice is purple, and affords a grateful beverage to theMaoris; and a wine, like elderberry wine, has been made fromthem. The seeds and leaves contain a poisonous alkaloid, andproduce convulsions, delirium and death, and are sometimesfatal to cattle and sheep.»
1884. Alfred Cox, `Recollections,' p. 258:
«When footpaths about Christchurch were fringed with tutubushes, little boys were foolish enough to pluck the beautifulberries and eat them. A little fellow whose name was `Richard'ate of the fruit, grew sick, but recovered. When the punsterheard of it, he said, `Ah! well, if the little chap had died,there was an epitaph all ready for him, Decus ettutamen. Dick has ate toot, amen.'»
1889. G. P. Williams and W. P. Reeves, `Colonial Couplets,'p. 20:
«You will gather from this that I'm not `broken in,'
And the troublesome process has yet to begin
Which old settlers are wont to call `eating your tutu;'
(This they always pronounce as if rhyming with boot).»
1889. Vincent Pyke, `Wild Will Enderby, p. 16 [Footnote]:
«The poisonous tutu bushes. A berry-bearing, glossy-leavedplant, deadly to man and to all animals, except goats.»
1891. T. H. Potts, `New Zealand Country Journal,' vol. xv.p. 103:
«The Cockney new chum soon learnt to `eat his toot,' and hequickly acquired a good position in the district.»