[3] The leaves are often covered with holes caused by the caterpillar of the kawakawa looper moth (Cleora scriptaria).

The leaves are deep green in colour if growing in the forest, but may be yellowish-green in more open situations.

After pollination the flowers gradually swell and become fleshy to form small, berry-like fruits that are yellow to bright orange.

The sweet edible yellow berries (most often found in summer on female trees) of the plant were eaten as a diuretic.

[6] Early European settlers to New Zealand used kawakawa in teas, and experimented using it as a flavouring agent in beer.

The roots of the plant are used to produce a drink with medicinal, sedative, anesthetic, euphoriant, and entheogenic properties.

The Māori word kawa also means "ceremonial protocol", recalling the stylised consumption of the drug typical of Polynesian societies.