Metrosideros Species, Giant Rata

This comment by Karl Gercens is about the tree in the picture I entered that Karl Gercens took.in Pukeiti Rhododendron Trust.
Bota...Read Morenical Garden in New Plymouth New Zealand.

"Metrosideros robusta dates back over 800 years when a seed landed in the top of a rimu tree. The aerial roots reached down to the ground, hardened and eventually left this tree standing even after the original tree died. Could this be the largest/oldest northern rata?"

Zone 9b Coastal Otago, New Zealand
A truly magnificent specimen tree with a spreading, rich green kidney shaped canopy, finely shr...Read Moreedding bark and elegant branch arrangement in mature examples, with the added bonus of profuse, sometimes total covering of deep red puffball blooms in summer.

Grows more slowly than the closely related pohutakawa and is more cold-tolerant, able to take a good measure of snow. Its leaves are less rounded, greener and this gives the tree a more elegant look in my opinion, making it easier to integrate into a collection of deciduous or Nthn Hemisphere trees.

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Giant mature examples have an almost otherworldly quality, like an ancient oak or yew.
Make room for this beauty- in favourable conditions it can top 20m with an equally massive spread, but harsh hillside sites will result in a gnarled form appropriate to a coastal or cliffside setting.
Nectar eagerly sought by birds, and, unfortunately, introduced possum pest species, meaning virtually all Metrosideros are now endangered in their native habitat.
Timber is very red and hard.
Both M Umbellata and M Robusta have similar properties and are practically interchangeable.