Horopito is one of the first trees I came to recognise when out in the native New Zealand bush. This is probably due to my Dad tricking me into tasting the leaf, which then left a hot peppery taste and a numbing sensation on my tongue! This is a native plant I did not easily forget…
Horopito or Pseudowintera colorata is known as New Zealand pepper tree and is a shrub or small tree that has remained largely unchanged in the forests of New Zealand for 65 million years, adapting to the environment in many ways. The tree has beautiful oval shaped, light green leaves that are blotched red on the surface, especially if they are exposed to light and are coloured white/blue-grey underneath.
Historical and Traditional Use
Maori and early settlers traditionally used horopito leaves to treat a variety of health problems including fungal skin infections, poor circulation, coughs, colds and asthma, venereal disease, stomach pain and diarrhoea.
For internal use, horopito leaves were either chewed or prepared as a tea. The decoction of leaves was used for pain relief and Maori chewed fresh leaves to relieve the pain caused by toothache. Early settlers often referred to the tree as the “Maori Pain Killer” or “Bushman’s Pain Killer”. There are accounts of the bark being used in the 19th century as a substitute for quinine.
To treat skin problems the leaves were bruised and steeped in water or chewed before applying to the affected area. Maori also stripped the bark, then cut away the inner bark, broke it into pieces and steeped these in hot water to apply to burns. When burns were treated this way they were said to heal and leave no scars.
Several of these uses relate to recent scientific discoveries about the plant’s properties which I will cover in my next post.
Sources:
Berry-Kilgour, C. (2007) ‘Horopito: A Unique New Zealand Medicinal Herb’. Dynamic Chiropractic, 25:10.
Macdonald, C. (1974) Medicines of the Maori. Auckland: William Collins (New Zealand) Ltd.
Brooker et al. (1981) New Zealand Medicinal Plants. Auckland: Heinemann Publishers.
The Seed of Knowledge 
This sounds amazing! What company in America sells the leaves? Please provide the name and contact number for the company or companies that sell the leaves.
Thank You
Hi Mimi, thanks for your question and for reading my blog. I believe Horopito is available commercially in America in a number of forms including an encapsulated supplement for intestinal candidiasis, as a herbal tea for mouth and throat problems, and as a range of topical creams for Candida and fungal problems. I am not sure of companies in America that sell leaves, but maybe if you head to a local natural health store they may know or you can look up this website http://www.kolorex.com/, which may give you some leads. Good luck!