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| Photo c/o RMO |
The Pohotukawa tree is more popularly known as the Christmas tree of Aotearoa New Zealand. This natural wonder blooms just a few weeks before Christmas and continues until January. They are picture-perfect for the Holiday season and the Kiwi summer. The blazing red flowers adorning this majestic green tree makes for a real, natural, live Christmas tree. It has become an established part of the New Zealand Christmas tradition from the early settlers until now. It has found it's way into songs, music, poems, posters, art, among many others. It has been threatened to extinction a couple of years ago, until the Department of Conservation came up with measures to ensure it's continued growth and presence in the New Zealand landscape.
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| Photo c/o RMO |
The scientific name of the Pohotukawa tree is
Metrosideros excelsa. In Latin,
excelsa means most high. And who was born around this time 2,000-plus years ago, Jesus Christ, the most high! It also has a prominent place in Maori mythology of
Tawhaki a young Maori warrior who sought the help of heaven to avenge his father's death. However, he fell to earth and the crimson flowers are said to represent his blood. Possibly the most famous Pohutukawa tree in Maori legend is an 800-year-old, small, wind-beaten tree clinging to the cliffs in Cape Reinga. Legend has it that it's supposed to be guarding the entrance to a sacred cave through which spirits pass on their way to the next world. As I stood underneath it on a hot December day, I could hear and see the bees buzzing around the trees and could hear the echoes of the ancient past telling me stories of the Pohotukawa tree!
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