Freycinetia banksii, commonly known as kiekie, is a densely branched, brittle, woody climber native to New Zealand. It is a member of the screwpalm family Pandanaceae.
Description
thumb|left|Botanical illustration by [[Emily Harris (artist)|Emily Harris of the tāwhara, or flower bracts]]
Freycinetia banksii is a densely branched woody climber, with numerous cane-like stems up to in diameter, which freely produce aerial roots. It climbs tree trunks, or forms dense tangles on the forest floor. Its stems and leaves are a dominant feature in many areas of New Zealand forest, the stems eventually reaching up to long. The leaves are long and slender, long and broad. The plant has white edible flower bracts and long pineapple-like fruit with rough skin and a sweet pink pulp. Cunningham named the species after Joseph Banks, the botanist aboard the first voyage of James Cook to New Zealand. In 1973, B.C. Stone argued that F. banksii should be regarded as a subspecies of Freycinetia baueriana of Norfolk Island. Subsequent to this, de Lange et al. (2005:591-592), countered Stone's arguments and retained F. banksii as a distinct species because of significant differences from F. baueriana, including over all growth habit, phyllotaxis, leaf width, vein tessellation, and bract colour (salmon pink to orange in F. baueriana, white to purplish in F. banksii).
Its Māori name is cognate with the Hawaiian ieie from Proto-Oceanic *kiRekiRe for Freycinetia in general. Tāwhara, the name for the plant's edible flower bracts, is likely etymologically linked with other Polynesian words that describe bunches of bananas, while the name for the fruit, ureure, likely stems from the fruit's phallic appearance.
Ecology
thumb|left|Freycinetia banksii is typically an [[epiphyte, but in places where no suitable trees are present, can form dense masses of tangled roots.]]
Freycinetia banksii typically climbs trunks of larger trees in forested areas. If no trees are near the plant, Freycinetia banksii can form masses of tangled roots. such as kete pūtea and kete pure. Items woven included mats and temporary baskets for holding food. The aerial roots were gathered to use as a binding material for implements and for making fish traps and sails.
Elements of the plant are present in a number of place names, such as the Tāwharanui Peninsula and Maungakiekie.