Editing Vitex lucens (section)

===By Māori===
Pūriri in traditional Māori medicine has been used as a rheumatic remedy for centuries. Māori used infusions from boiled leaves to bathe sprains and backache, as a remedy for ulcers, especially under the ear, and for sore throats. The infusion was also used to wash the body of the deceased to help preserve it.<ref name=":6" /> Pūriri trees or groves were often {{lang|mi|[[Tapu (Polynesian culture)|tapu]]}} through their use as burial sites<ref>S.W. Burstal and E.V. Sale (1984) Great trees of New Zealand.</ref> and pūriri leaves were fashioned in to coronets or carried in the hand during a {{lang|mi|[[Tangihanga|tangi]]}} (funeral).<ref name=":6" />

Pūriri timber is usually greenish dark-brown, but sometimes nearly black or streaked with yellow, it was often used for implements and structures requiring strength and durability. Māori preferred other timbers to pūriri as its cross-grain made for difficult carving, but pūriri garden tools and weapons had a long life and legend has it that buckshot used to ricochet off pūriri palisades.<ref>F. Keene (1988) Tai Tokerau.</ref> It was used in the construction of {{lang|mi|[[hīnaki]]}} (eel traps) because it was one of the few timbers that would sink.<ref name=":6" /> Pūriri was sometimes used to dye [[Phormium|flax]] fibres yellow,<ref>R.C. Cooper and R.C. Cambie (1991) New Zealand's economic native plants.</ref> the sawdust can produce intense yellow stains on concrete floors.

The Pūriri provides the strongest wood in New Zealand, allowing to make things such as bridges and paddles from it.