Mine has just finished flowering. Where as the pohutukawa will have slightly smaller and rounded leaves. One good way to tell them apart is to look at the leaves. This iconic Kiwi Christmas tree, which often features on greeting cards and in poems and songs, has become an important symbol for New Zealanders at home and abroad. Leave it for two or three months. The vibrant and multi purpose Kowhai tree is a national treasure of New Zealand. * Trim immediately after flowering it will bring the tree back to flower faster as energy is not diverted to seed production. They start as a seed germinating on the ground and grow up into a very large, spreading, multi-trunk tree with a large canopy. How tall does a pohutukawa fish poison tree grow? These 3 tips will help you identify and tell apart rata or pohutukawa trees like a local. Those hairs protects the leaves from the salt of the ocean. flowers and form. Note that the southern rata has dark green pointed leaves and that pohutukawa has shorter rounded leaves that have a whitish velvety texture on the underside. Houses are lost on cliffs when people take pohutukawa out because they want the views. The underside of a pohutukawa leave has fine white hairs whereas the northern rata leaf is glossy on both sides. Those hairs protects the leaves from the salt of the ocean. It's a site that collects all the most frequently asked questions and answers, so you don't have to spend hours on searching anywhere else. Growing a Kowhai also helps to support the native bird pollution by increasing their food sources. Early Europeans used pohutukawa extensively for the curved members of boat frames and its numbers were greatly reduced in areas adjacent to boat building yards. This resource has been created to help you, What is the difference? These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. However, they do have some different. Rata and pohutukawa - the metrosideros family Did Tish and Billy Ray get back together? Abstract The floral biology and breeding system of pohutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa, Myrtaceae), a mass-flowering tree of northern New Zealand coastlines, were examined. Phutukawa wood is dense, strong and highly figured. The tree flowers from November to January with a peak in early summer (mid to late December), with brilliant crimson flowers covering the tree, hence the nickname New Zealand Christmas tree. Phutukawa and rt belong to the genus Metrosideros. The underside of a pohutukawa leave has fine white hairs whereas the northern rata leaf . Adult rata grow into tall trees with single trunks covered in epiphytes, whose first branches start well off the ground. 20m high You should just expect slower growth rates than you might otherwise get. New Zealands native rata and pohutukawa trees can be found across the country. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. They are tall, up to 20 m, but are broader than tall (up to 35 m wide). If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Can pohutukawa grow inland? Pohutukawa trees. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Apparently a pohutukawa style flower with rata like leaves. Many thanks - this is really helpful. The top is shining green, but the bottom is whitish and is covered in tiny hairs. 1 What is the difference between Rata and pohutukawa? Flo- ral design and display of pohutukawa are consistent with high levels of autogamous and geitonogamous self-pollination. The Northern rata is naturally found throughout the Northern Island and the top of the South Island. The Project Crimson trust is getting some great results in helping both the rata trees and Pohutukawa survive against these threats. Both trees are very hardy, however they are under serious attack at the moment. While a rata tree will smother itself in bloom only once every few years, with minimal flowering during the in-between years, a pohutukawa will generally bloom every summer, once it reaches flowering age. Manuka is quite adaptive. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Okay, sounds good. It is nice and thick to the ground, as it grows from the base as well.. As such it makes it near impossible to accurately date these magnificent trees. Generally, a neighbour has the right to cut or trim any part of a tree that encroaches onto their property though if the tree is protected theyll need resource content or will face consequences. PDF HOW TO GROW YOUR OWN POHUTUKAWA AND RATA - Project Crimson Can I Cut Down My Pohutukawa Tree - WHYIENJOY Floral biology and breeding system of pohutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa "See if you like it before you plant it out. Then there are only two pohutukawa species. Works will be required 4.0 metres from the base of Tree 5 in order to install the new system. * Liquid feed small trees throughout winter. This means that Epiphyte Northern rata can have quite long trucks. It grows down to the northern Taranaki area on the west coast and down to Poverty Bay on the east coast. For more like this,join us onFacebookor subscribe atmags4gifts.co.nz. (noun) phutukawa, New Zealand Christmas tree, Metrosideros excelsa, Metrosideros kermadecensis, Metrosideros bartlettii trees found in coastal areas which bear large, red flowers about Christmas time and have leaves which are velvety-white underneath. If they have established from the ground the trunks are usually much shorter. The oblong, leathery leaves are covered in dense white hairs underneath.[2]. Its hard strong timber was used for ship-building, and parts of the tree were also used medicinally by the Maori. Wardle has also studied frost damage and found that pohutukawa cannot tolerate temperatures below zero. How long does it take for a pohutukawa tree to grow? Red flowers in large spiky balls in early summer. Phutukawa and rt belong to the genus Metrosideros.