rātā that flowers blood red from cliff and canopy

Size
Height: 15–25 m
Lifespan
500–1000 years
Diet
Produces masses of brilliant red flowers rich in nectar. Attracts tūī, bellbirds, kākā, and geckos. Flowers followed by small, dry seed capsules releasing tiny, fluffy seeds.
Habitat
Forests of New Zealand from Northland to Stewart Island. Northern rātā grows in lowland and montane forests. Southern rātā grows in colder south. One is strangler. One is pillar.
Range
Northern rātā found in lowland and montane forests of North Island and northern South Island. Southern rātā found in colder regions of South Island, Stewart Island, and subantarctic.
Endemism
Endemic
Main Threats
Possum browsing is primary threat. Possums love tender new growth. Also threatened by habitat loss from forest clearance. Myrtle rust affects new growth significantly.
Population
Not Threatened, though both species have suffered from habitat loss and browsing by possums. Northern rātā less common in lowlands. Southern rātā abundant in wild forests.
Conservation Status
Not Threatened
Human Risk
harmless
Handling Note
native broadleaf tree, safe to handle
Conservation Note
Endemic forest tree; widespread in lowland and montane forests throughout New Zealand.
Assessment
NZTCS Vascular Plants (2023)
Te Ao Māori
Rātā. Name is sharp, strong. In Māori tradition, rātā was tree of forest. Source of timber and nectar. Flowers favourite of tūī. Birds gathered in canopy to feast. Wood used for tools, weapons, handles of adzes. Rātā was tree of value. Tree of deep bush. Northern rātā strangler habit seen as symbol of patience and strength. Tree waited. Grew slowly. Overcame host through persistence.
Observers stand under cage of roots. Northern rātā is southern cousin of pōhutukawa. Shares crimson flowers and tough, leathery leaves. But where pōhutukawa grows on coast, rātā grows in forest. Where pōhutukawa is tree of cliffs, northern rātā is tree of canopy. Strangler that begins life in branches of another tree. Starts as tiny seed. Dropped by bird onto branch of host tree. Often rimu, tōtara, or kahikatea. Seed germinates. Grows into epiphyte. Plant that lives on surface of another plant. Sends down long, thin roots. Dangle in air. Searching for ground. When roots reach soil, they thicken and grow. Wrap around trunk of host. Over decades, rātā strangles its host. Roots fuse into massive, woody column. Host tree dies and rots away. Leaving hollow, twisted pillar of rātā roots. Strangler fig of southern forest. Mature northern rātā is not solid trunk. It is cage of fused roots. Living sculpture that once wrapped around tree now gone. Southern rātā is different. Grows in cold, wet forests of south. Summers short. Winters long. Does not start as epiphyte. Grows from ground. Solid, straight trunk reaching 20 metres or more. Bark rough and corky. Leaves small and leathery. Flowers brilliant, fiery red. Flowers are glory of both species. In summer, rātā erupts in clusters of crimson stamens. Same fireworks display as pōhutukawa. Somehow wilder. More remote. Flowers filled with nectar. Tūī, bellbird, and kākā go mad for them. Rātā in full flower is beacon in forest. Tower of red against green. To stand under northern rātā is to stand under cage of roots. Trunk not solid. Lattice. Twisted column of fused wood. Hollow in centre where host tree once stood. Branches spread wide. Leaves dark green. Flowers red. Tree grew out of death. Tree killed to live. To stand under southern rātā in Fiordland is to stand under pillar of red. Trunk straight. Bark rough. Flowers brilliant against grey sky. Rain falling. Moss thick. Birds singing. Tree of wild south. Tree of rain and wind. Possum browsing is primary threat. Possums love tender new growth. Can kill trees through repeated defoliation. Also threatened by habitat loss from forest clearance. Myrtle rust affects new growth. Northern rātā less common than it once was. Particularly in lowlands. Southern rātā still abundant in wild forests of South Island and Stewart Island. Neither rare. Both treasured. No one told it otherwise.