What is rongoā? Rongoā is the traditional holistic Māori healing system, which often uses the medicinal properties of New Zealand native plants. Though early Māori lacked contemporary understanding of the body’s immune system, nonetheless they wer...

Kawakawa balm or kawakawa ointment is a very versatile product. Māori healers (tohunga) and medical practitioners (kairongoā) traditionally used the kawakawa plant from the bush for its proven healing properties in a wide range of treatments such ...

Aotearoa has a rich diversity of native angiosperms and gymnosperms. These are the two main taxonomy divisions of trees and plants. In this journal article we explore the range of species that fall within these two categories.  Angiosperms Angiosp...

Aotea would like to encourage the reading of Māori literature, which has an important place in this country. Māori authors and poets are great voices for Māori culture. Our first close-up will be on the late and great poet, Hone Tuwhare. The work ...

Mānuka oil is an oil compound obtained from the Leptospermum scoparium or mānuka plant. The oil is contained in tiny sacs in the small, pointed leaves. We make our mānuka oil using a distillation process, taking the plant matter and turning it int...

Facial oils are seemingly everywhere right now, and they have a long history in skin care. In fact, the ancient Egyptians reportedly used oils in cosmetics as early as 4500 B.C.E. Ancient cultures including the ancient Greeks, the ancient Egyptian...