#perching lily

AKA Collospermum hastatum, Funckia hastata and Astelia furfuracea. In te reo Māori kakaha, and kahakaha.

Robust tufted perennials, often in large colonies, in uplands, but also thrives in lava fields around Auckland. Frequently epiphytic - in fact one common name for the genus is 'perching lily'. On the other hand another common name for A. hastata is widow maker, precisely because of that epiphytic habit - woodsman cutting down trees in New Zealand's forests could very easily be brained by a large clump of Astelia dislodged from the upper branches.

A. hastata has rounded leaf bases that collect water in a similar way to tropical bromeliads. Roots subsequently grow up into these water reservoirs.

The flowers are an important food supply for the lesser short-tailed bat Mystacina tuberculata, one of New Zealand two species of native land mammal. The other one is also a bat, as was the third, now extinct (guess why).