Austral English / A dictionary of Australasian words, phrases and usages with those aboriginal-Australian and Maori words which have become incorporated in the language, and the commoner scientific words that have had their origin in Australasia

by Edward Ellis Morris

<hw>Umbrella-tree</hw>, <i>n</i>. name given to <i>Brassaia actinophylla</i>, Endl., <i>N.O. Araliaceae</i>, from the large leaves being set, like umbrella-ribs, at the top of numerous stems.

<hw>Umu</hw>, <i>n</i>. Maori word, signifying a native oven.

1845. E. J. Wakefield, `Adventures in New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 75:

"The tangi had terminated; the umu or `cooking holes' were smoking away for the feast."

1855. Rev. R. Taylor, `Te Ika, a Maui,' p. 389:

"The native oven (umu hangi) is a circular hole of about two feet in diameter and from six to twelve inches deep."

1872. `Transactions of the New Zealand Institute,' vol. v. p. 96:

". . . being all in and around the <i>umus</i> (or native ovens) in which they had been cooked."

1882. S. Locke, `Traditions of Taupo,' `Transactions of the New Zealand Institute,' vol. xv. art. liv. p. 440:

"They killed Kurimanga the priest and cooked him in an oven, from which circumstance the place is called Umu-Kuri."