hard, curved, almost polished seeds, almost as long as the berry, which were used by the Māori to make necklaces. The berries undergo successive stages of colour from green to orange to a very dark red as they ripen, a process that can take from 12 to 15 months. The berries are heavy and will fall from the tree easily if it is disturbed. According to Salmon, a tree with a heavy crop of berries is a spectacular sight (1973:278). When wounded, the tree exudes a sticky, white latex. The white-coloured wood is hard and durable. The fruit are consumed by the kererū (New Zealand pigeon), and the kākā parrot, both of which were represented on Norfolk Island by closely related birds which are now extinct. Threats The fruit and seeds of P. costata are very palatable to rats. Research in New Zealand has shown that the eating of the fruit and the destruction of the seeds by kiore (Pacific rats) has substantially reduced the population of the tree and significantly altered the composition of coastal forest of the northern North Island. Kiore were introduced by Māori sometime in the last 1,000 years and became widespread on the three main islands, and reached many of the offshore islands. Tawapou seedlings and saplings are now rare on the mainland and on off-shore islands where kiore are present, and abundant on islands where they are absent. Where kiore are present, it is rare to find tawapou seeds that have not had their kernels removed. Kiore eat the flesh from freshly fallen tawapou fruit but tend to take the seeds to 'husking stations' where they remove the kernels. As many as 1,400 discarded husks have been found at a single site. The number of juvenile trees increases markedly on islands from which kiore have been removed. "The apparent thoroughness with which kiore find and eat the kernels before the seed germinates shows that kiore can substantially reduce seedling numbers… Numbers of tawapou, and the proportion of tawapou trees in forest vegetation, will increase after rat eradication on any island that still retains tawapou trees" (Campbell et al., 1999:280). Norfolk Island also has various species of rats, which no doubt contributes to the endangered status of P. costata there. In Māori culture Tawapou logs were often used as rollers to help bring large canoes onshore. In Māori traditions of Northland, the canoe 'Waipapa' is