Pohutukawa in bloom at the Riverside Park, Riverside Drive, Whangārei, herald the arrival of Christmas. Photo / Michael Cunningham
Pohutukawa in bloom at the Riverside Park, Riverside Drive, Whangārei, herald the arrival of Christmas. Photo / Michael Cunningham
You know Christmas is just around the corner in Northland when the pohutukawa are in flower.
And with Christmas Day just over a week away Northland's "pohuts" (Metrosideros excelsa) are putting on their spectacular finery.
The tree has special significance to Maori. According to Maori legend, spirits depart for theirjourney to their ancestral home from a large, 800-year-old pohutukawa tree above Spirits Bay in the Far North.
Found throughout the North Island, particularly north of New Plymouth and Gisborne, pohutukawa, commonly called the New Zealand Christmas Tree because of its Christmas blooming, grows best in warm, drier areas close to the sea.
They grow up to 20m high by 35m wide and flower between November and February depending on location and weather.
They normally have pinkish crimson to brownish red flowers, but a number of colour variations have been recorded, including apricot, salmon, yellow and pink.
