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Saturday, December 19, 2009

Scenic Sunday: Pohutukawa , the New Zealand Christmas Tree



http://scenicsunday.blogspot.com/

This is a Scarlet Flowering Ironwood, and known as Metrosiderox excelsa. It blooms around Christmas and the whole tree is crimson.

The Maori word "Pohutukawa"means "sprinkled with spray", a delightful tribute to a tree that happily clings to seaside cliffs, or grows with it's roots partly submerged in the sea.

This is commonly called The New Zealand Christmas Tree.

Merry Christmas to all of you.

10 comments:

Elaine Yim said...

What an unusual Christmas Tree. Do the locals decorate this tree during Christmas?

eileeninmd said...

It is unusual Christmas tree but it is pretty. Lovely photo. Happy Holidays!

Anonymous said...

I am not sure the ironwood tree is the same as one by that name behind my house in the neighbor's yard, but the Red Breasted Woodpeckers love the one here.

This one doesn't bloom red.

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

Abraham Lincoln,
The Pōhutukawa is one of twelve Metrosideros species endemic to New Zealand.

Autumn Belle @ KDP

When the pohutukawa grows in the wild, it is a very big tree. People do decorate them like you would do with a pine tree as a Christmas tree. One year, My home group decorated a pohutukawa tree as our entry for our annual Christmas tree decoration contest.

Cheers,

Ann

Cheryl said...

What a handsome tree, and perfectly suited to its name. Looks very pretty with the red against the green. Happy Holidays to you as well.

Eden said...

I clicked the picture to get a closer view. It is a really beautiful tree.

Have a good holiday in Gold Coast.

My name is Riet said...

What a beautiful tree and I can imagine it is nice for decorating.
Happy Holidays

Ah Ngao said...

i always thought christmas have to be cone shape - now i got it,..hehe

elvira pajarola said...

What a magiccly tree...WONDERFUL Picture!!!
I love this special color!
have a beautiful sunday!

Maia T said...

What a beautifully colored tree. It is nice to read about other Christmas customs too.
Please remove the above comment; I've made a correction and had to remove it.