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Te haenga me te ruinga o te kākano ❘ Pollination and seed dispersal

He aha te take o ngā pua?

Mā te whakaputa uri tōrua e whai uri ai te nuinga o ngā momo rākau. 

Nā reira, me whakaputa kākano e te nuinga o ngā momo rākau kia ora tonu ai.

Mā ngā pua te nuinga o ngā tipu e whai kākano ai.

What is the purpose of flowers?

Most tree species need to produce offspring via sexual reproduction.

That means most tree species need to produce seeds if they are to survive in the long term.

Flowers are how most plants produce seeds.

Parts of a flower diagram.

Ngā wāhanga o te pua

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Kei ngētehi o ngā tipu ka noho ngātahi mai te hema-uwha me te hema-toa ki te pua kotahi. Kei ngētehi atu o ngā tipu, he rerekē ngā pua hema-uwha i ngā pua hema-toa. I ngētehi wā, kei te tupu kotahi he hema-toa anake, he hema-uwha anake rānei. He āhuatanga tēnei e kitea noatia ana i ngā tupu taketake o Aotearoa.

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Rights: University of Waikato Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato
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I ngētehi wā, ka whai raupua ngā pua, ka whakaputa waihonga rānei, kia whakamanea ai i ngā manu, pērā i te tūī, i te kākā, i te korimako, me ngā pī anō hoki.

Ka haria atu te hae i tētehi pua ki tētehi pua e ngā manu, e ngā hau o Tāwhirimātea rānei.

Sometimes, flowers have petals or produce nectar to attract birds like tūī, kākā and korimako and also bees.

Pollen can be carried from one flower to another by birds, by insects like bees or by gusts of wind.

Tūī on a kōwhai bush.

Te haenga mā ngā manu

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He tino reka te waihonga o te kōwhai ki te tūī. I te wā e ngongo ana te manu i te waihonga, ka piri hoki te hae ki ōna rau. Kei tēnei whakaahua, ka kitea te hae o te kōwhai e piri atu nei ki te te māhunga o tētehi tūī.

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Rights: Manatārua: Norman Mason
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Honey bee drinking nectar from koromiko flowers.

Te haenga mā ngā pī

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Ka kohikohia waihonga e ngā pī hei whakaputa i te mīere. Mā reira, ka haria hoki te hae. Kei tēnei whakaahua, ka kitea tētahi pī e ngongo ana i te waihonga i ngā pua o te koromiko.

Pī, Norman Mason me koromiko, Alfred Lex CC BY-NC 2.0.

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Rights: Manatārua: The University of Waikato Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato
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Te hae me te haenga – te whakaputa uri tōrua o ngā tupu

Ko tēnei mea te hae, he kongakonga mōkitokito ka tuku atu i te taihema toa o te pua.

Ka kawea atu te hae ki te tauhae o te taihema uwha.

I te ngongonga o te hae, ka heke te pūtau hema-toa mā te tauhae ki te wharekano. Ka whakatōngia te pūtau hema-uwha ki reira, ā, ka tipu, ka rea te kākano.  

Ko tēnei tukanga ka karangahia ko te haenga.

Pollen and pollination – sexual reproduction in plants

Pollen is the microscopic grains released from the stamens (male parts of the flower). 

Pollen is carried to the stigma of the carpel (female part of the flower). 

The male gamete (sperm cell) descends from the stigma through the pollen tube to the ovary. There, it fertilises the female gamete (egg cell). Following fertilisation, the seed develops.

This process is called pollination.

Diagram and a micrograph of a pistil.

Te haenga me whakatōnga

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Ko te hae he kongakonga mōkitokito ka tuku atu i te taihema toa o te pua. Kei roto i ngā kongakonga mōkitokito nei ngā pūtau hema-toa o te tipu. Ka kawea atu te hae ki te hema-uwha o taua pua, o tētahi atu pua rānei, ka tīmata ai te tukanga whakatō. Arā, ka hono tahi te pūtau hema-toa me te pūtau hema-uwha ki roto i te wharekano o te pua.

Pistil micrograph, Li-Yu Chen, CC BY 4.0.

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Rights: Manatārua: The University of Waikato Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato
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He aha te take o ngā hua?

I te nuinga o te wā, me tau tawhiti atu te kākano i tōna rākau whaea e matomato ai te tipu o te tupu hou.

Ko tā te tupu he whakaputa i ngā hua, e taea ai ērā āhuatanga o te ruirui kākano.

Ko tēnei tukanga ka karangahia ko te ruinga kākano.

He maha hoki ngā āhuatanga urutau o ngā hua kia haria atu ai ō rātou kākano e te hau, e te kararehe, e te wai, e te tangata anō hoki.

What is the purpose of fruit?

Usually, seeds need to travel far away from the mother tree if the new plant is to thrive. 

Plants produce fruit to achieve this.

This process is called seed dispersal.

Fruits have many adaptations for their seeds to be carried by wind, animals, water and people.

Selection of fruits showing how seeds adapt to distribute

Ngā āhuatanga urutau o ngā hua

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He maha ngā āhuatanga urutau o ngā hua kia haria atu ai ō rātou kākano e te kararehe, e te hau, e te wai, e te pohū e te tangata hoki.

Image acknowledgements: Kererū feeding on karaka berry, Geoff de Lisle; Dandelion, Daniel Blunt, CC BY 2.0; Kuta, Barry O’Brien, nō roto mai i ; Harakeke, Roger Culos, CC BY-SA 3.0; Kahikatea, Catherine Beard, CC BY-NC 4.0, sourced from iNaturalistNZ; Kauri, Mikey Marley CC BY-NC 4.0, sourced from iNaturalistNZ; Coconut, kerdkanno/123RF Ltd; Gorse, Dr Craig Sixtus.

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Rights: Manatārua: The University of Waikato Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato
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Kararehe

He tino reka ki te kererū ngā hua nunui o ngā rākau taketake, pērā i te karaka, i te pūriri, i te miro anō hoki. Ka kaingia ngā hua e te kererū, ka ruia ai ngā kākano ki ngā tōpito o te whenua.

He wāhi nui tō te manu ki te ruiruinga o ngā kākano, nā reira, me reka rawa atu ngā hua o te kahikatea kia whakamanea rawa rā i ngā manu, i ngā tāngata hoki!

Animals

Kererū love to feed on the big fruits of native trees like karaka, pūriri and miro. When kererū eat the fruit, they also disperse the seed.

Because birds are so essential to seed dispersal, the fruit of the kahikatea has to be very sweet to attract the birds and people too!

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This resource is available as a te reo Māori only Word document file for kura to adapt as required.

Te haenga me te ruinga o te kākano

WORD•3.26 MB

He kōrero kōpūtahi ❘ Related content

  • Ngā rākau ❘ Trees

  • He aha hoki tērā rākau? ❘ What kind of tree is that?

  • Ngā kākano ❘ Seeds

  • Ngā rau o te rākau ❘ Tree leaves

  • He pūnaha whakarōpū ❘ Classifying and identifying plants

Mō te tūpono he ngākau whakapuke hoki koe ki ēnei kaupapa: 

You may also be interested in:  

  • Pollination resources – planning pathways

  • Pollination and fertilisation

  • Decline of birds and pollination – Rhabdothamnus research 

  • Mistletoes and mutualism

  • Labelling the parts of a pua/flower – ākonga use online and/or paper resources to identify and label parts of a pua/flower. Choose labelling options for te reo Māori or English or both!

Watch our webinar He rauemi reo Māori mō ngā rākau – Te reo Māori plant resources for an overview of the bilingual resources created with Dr Norm Mason. 

Ngā hono ❘ Useful links

  • Ngā tipu puāwai – Te Ara

  • Pollination and pollinators – Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research

  • Flower of the underworld – a parasitic treasure – RNZ

He whakamihi

Tēnei te mihi nui ki a Mokoro Gillett (Tumuaki o Te Wharekura o Te Rau Aroha) rāua ko Norman Mason (Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research). Tēnā kōrua.

Acknowledgements

Thank you to Mokoro Gillett (Principal of Te Wharekura o Te Rau Aroha) and Norman Mason (Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research).

Glossary

Published: 30 August 2022
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