Pohutukawa

December plant of this month has got to be our iconic “Christmas Tree” – Pohutukawa aka Metrosideros excelsa.

Around Auckland the trees are flowering on cue promising a summer holiday season to look forward to. What do flowering Pohutukawas mean to you – early flowers mean a hot summer, kinas are ready…

Here are some stats from www.projectcrimson.org.nz

Mainland pohutukawa is found all over the country, although its natural growing range is north of a line stretching from New Plymouth to Gisborne. They flower between November and February depending on location and weather patterns.

They prefer warm drier areas close to the sea, and have the ability to sprout root systems as and where needed. These adventitious roots form out of trunks and branches; and are able to grow in air over surfaces as they search for crevices, pockets of soil and moisture. The wood is dense and strong, as needed to withstand wind damage and drought; hard, very heavy, dark red heartwood; slow growing.

Mainland pohutukawa grows to 20m high with up to a 35m wide crown. The massive spreading crown; wider than tall, moulds to coastal wind and slope and spreads weight over unstable ground. The canopy shelters root systems on bare rock.

On low fertility sites, almost solid rock, trees which may be 100 years old may not exceed one or two meters in height.

These trees are perfect for larger properties, as a specimen (although if in a lawn, be prepared for large trees to drop debris after wind), on coastal, windy, exposed, dry sites, and great for retaining edges as you can see on coastal cliff faces.

There are smaller cultivars which can be used in smaller gardens. Metrosideros ‘Tahiti’  (from Tahiti) is the smallest cultivar growing to 1m tall and wide. They have the same flower as their larger relations, make a great low hedge or mass planting, but will not tolerate frosts.