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1777 G. Forster Voy. round World I. ii. ii. 509 These men pointed out a species of fern-tree, which they called mamagboo..; and at the same time shewed the difference between this, and another kind of fern-tree, which they named ponga.

1832 G. Bennett in London Med. Gaz. 22 Sept. 793/2 This fern..is named Ponga by the natives, who use the trunks as posts in the erection of their houses.

1874 J. White Te Rou xi. 179 Round two sides and one end [of the hangis, or ovens] a ponga fence is put.

1892 E. S. Brookes Frontier Life xv. 139 The Survey department graded a zigzag track up the side to the top, fixing in punga steps.

1898 E. E. Morris Austral Eng. 65/1 Bunga or Bungy,..a New Zealand settlers' corruption of the Maori word punga.

1905 W. Baucke Where White Man Treads 232 It irks to go back to ponga whare and earthen floors.

1926 Trans. & Proc. N.Z. Inst. 56 670 In some instances the Maori name has been adopted but corrupted:..‘bunger’ (now fortunately seldom heard) for ‘ponga’.

1935 ‘J. Guthrie’ Little Country iii. 58 Tall punga ferns spread their proud fronds.

1966 Encycl. N.Z. I. 650/1 C[yathea] dealbata or ponga has distinctive whitish undersurfaces to the leaves.

1977 N.Z. Herald 5 Jan. 16/8 (advt.) Genuine bush with pongas, totara and kauri surrounding this most impressive 4-brm contemporary home.

1999 C. Grimshaw Provocation viii. 122 Our leader beamed down over the clump of nikau palms and feathery ponga ferns growing in the middle of the roundabout.