thumb|A Coriaria arborea tree (tutu)
Tutu is a common name of Māori origin for plants in the genus Coriaria found in New Zealand.
Name
The Māori language name tutu has cognates found in other Eastern Polynesian languages such as Tahitian and Cook Islands Māori which use the word to describe Colubrina asiatica, a plant that has visual similarity to Coriaria. Tutu is also colloquially known as toot in New Zealand.
- Coriaria arborea
- Coriaria lurida
- Coriaria plumosa
- Coriaria pottsiana
- Coriaria pteridoides
- Coriaria sarmentosa
Description
They are shrubs or trees; some are endemic to New Zealand. Most of the plant parts are poisonous, containing the neurotoxin tutin and its derivative hyenanchin.
Toxicity
The widespread species Coriaria arborea is most often linked to cases of poisoning. The last recorded deaths from eating honey containing tutin were in the 1890s, although sporadic outbreaks of toxic honey poisoning continue to occur. Poisoning symptoms include delirium, vomiting, and coma.
Food, medical and musical uses
Tutu has a variety of food, medical and musical uses in traditional Māori culture. The berries were carefully filtered to remove the seeds to create waitutu, one of the few pre-European beverages in New Zealand.