Myoporum laetum, commonly known as ngaio (/ˈnaɪoʊ/ NY-oh,[2] Māori: [ˈŋaio]) or mousehole tree, is a species of flowering plant in the family Scrophulariaceae and is endemic to New Zealand.

There are 5 egg-shaped, pointed sepals and 5 petals joined at their bases to form a bell-shaped tube 3.5–4.5 millimetres (0.1–0.2 in) long.

[4] The leaves of this tree contain the liver toxin ngaione, which can cause sickness and or death in stock such as horses, cattle, sheep and pigs.

Here is the story, as recounted by politician, historian, poet William Pember Reeves (1857–1932): The man in the moon becomes, in Māori legend, a woman, one Rona by name.

Stumbling in the dark over stones and the roots of trees she hurt her shoeless feet and began to abuse the moon, then hidden behind clouds, hurling at it some such epithet as "You old tattooed face, there!"

The roots gave way, and Rona with her calabash and her tree are placed in the front of the moon for ever, an awful warning to all who are tempted to mock at divinities in their haste.