New Zealands Largest Pohutukawa Tree

This Pohutukawa tree is located in a small town called Te Araroa and it is said to be the largest in New Zealand it has 22 trunks and is estimated at over 600 years old.

Te Araroa ( means long pathway in english) is located on the most Easterly point of the North Island, 175Km North of Gisborne. This place is very close to the International Dateline so if you are able to see the sunrise here you will be one of the first people to see the sun rise for that particular day.

This photo of the tree was taken by Sarah Dwyer she graduated from the University of Saint Andrews in Scotland ( Marine Biology )

The pohutukawa tree was used as a decoration by early settlers to New Zealand, when the pohutukawa tree blossomed it was used to decorate their home at Christmas time, regarding it as a New Zealand replacement for holly, which lead to the name of Christmas tree.

The pohutukawa tree was also utilized as timber for ship building as the wood is extremely hard ( scientific name Metrosideros Excelsa , from the Greek word, meaning ironwood). In the early days of New Zealands coloniztion boatloads of pohutukawa timber were exported, which drastically depleted the magnificent trees .

The leaves and bark of the pohutukawa tree were used for a variety of medicinal purposes by the maori people, also early settlers drank a concoction of inner bark of the pohutukawa tree to cure dysentry.

Now this beautiful tree is also used to produce beautiful honey, you can purchase some at

http://twenty-twenty-imports.com