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Story: Rural language

Tutu berries

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Tutu berries

Tutu (Coriaria arborea) berries are extremely toxic if eaten by stock. The prevalence of tutu poisoning in settler days led to the verb ‘to tutu’ and the adjective ‘tutu’d’. The plant’s name is often shortened to ‘toot’.

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Natural Sciences Image Library of New Zealand

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by Peter E. Smith

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How to cite this page

Dianne Bardsley, Rural language – Farming difficulties, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/18603/tutu-berries (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Dianne Bardsley, published 1 March 2009.