The natural vegetation would have been mostly have been a mixed bush of totara, matai, rimu, kahikatea, titoki, tawa, and rewarewa. Virtually nothing remains of it. Te Iti o Hauā marae, of Ngāti Haua, Ngāti Paretekawa and Ngāti Ngutu, is east of Matangi on Tauwhare Rd. These original owners lost most of their land to confiscation or sales following the 1860s New Zealand wars.