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orihou

From Maori, the common name for Pseudopanax colensoi, a small-leaved understory shrub of New Zealand forests.

ˈɔɹihu184 viewsLast reviewed Jun 29, 2026+ Add a definition
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#1·May 3, 2026Globalcasual

From Maori, the common name for Pseudopanax colensoi, a small-leaved understory shrub of New Zealand forests. Orihou is notable for its dramatic juvenile-to-adult leaf transformation — young plants have long, toothed leaves while mature ones have short, rounded leaves — which puzzled early botanists into classifying them as separate species.

The trampers identified orihou by its distinctive juvenile leaves while scrambling through the beech-forest understory.
Source: Slangora editorial
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#2·Apr 27, 2026

(NZ) The shrub , endemic to New Zealand.

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