Rataroa » Manaaki Whenua

Excellent kete cultivar. Slightly short for whāriki.

	Source	Details
Cultivar No		73
Source
Description		Leaves are upright and spear-like, similar to Tāpoto and Parekoretawa. Margins on young leaves are burgundy and turn dark brown on mature leaves. Long butt ends and comparatively short leaves.
Uses		Excellent kete cultivar. Slightly short for whāriki.
Piupiu		It has fine fibre. The para sticks a lot on older leaves but less so in younger leaves. It curls well.
Muka extraction		Medium amount of muka. Does not extract well, para sticks to fibre. Muka thins out towards tip of leaf and is weak.
Raranga - unboiled		Excellent raranga cultivar. Strong leaves, no fraying of edges, soft and pliable, keeps moisture for a long time, nice shiny surface but not slippery.

Gallery

Rataroa: leaves Image — Rataroa: leaves

Rataroa: bush Image — Rataroa: bush

Examples of whenu (flax strands) curled for creating piupiu. Ateraukawa, Ruahine, Roma 2, Tāpoto, Manunu, Rataroa, Atarau. Image — Examples of whenu (flax strands) curled for creating piupiu. Ateraukawa, Ruahine, Roma 2, Tāpoto, Manunu, Rataroa, Atarau.

Rataroa: It has fine fibre. The para sticks a lot on older leaves but less so in younger leaves. It curls well. Image — Rataroa: It has fine fibre. The para sticks a lot on older leaves but less so in younger leaves. It curls well.

Information sources

Rene Orchiston

Katarina Tawiri

Rita Baker

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