For Kiwis (and lovers of special trees)

VNwalking · Dec 7, 2021

Are you walking the Ingles or planning to visit A Coruña before heading home?

Here, courtesy of Google Maps, is a total wonder - an absolutely immense Pohutukawa. It has a pointer all its own on the map!

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

goo.gl

You can find it behind a police station (of all places), a 12 or 13 minute walk from the Igrexa de Santiago, where the arm of the Ingles from A Coruña begins. The directions tell me it takes as much time to walk as to take the bus.

So if you want to feel a little more at home before you set off - or just want to make a botanical pilgrimage - check out this amazing and venerable tree!

Here is an interesting article that mentions it - you'll need to scroll down past the botanical details; about a third of the way down the page. The history of this tree and the history of Aotearoa make a very interesting story.

Metrosideros excelsa o ( Pohutukawa "El eslabón perdido")

Nombre común : Metrosidero, Árbol de hierro, Árbol de Navidad Neozelandes. Familia : Myrtaceae. Origen : Nueva Zelanda. Introducción:...

www.unjardinsostenible.com

Edit - After posting this I realized that A Coruña and Chch are antipodes of each other. That tree is as far from home as it is possible to be and still be on the planet.

cathietherese · Dec 7, 2021

Oh my gosh! How fabulous. It’s especially cool you kindly shared this during Advent season as the Pohutukawa is considered Aotearoa/NZ’s Christmas tree.

I was born in the Central North Island. One Christmas I got summer pajamas when I was still a little tot. It wasn’t until some years later that I got to have a coastal holiday and I will never forget the joy of seeing my first ‘real-live’ pohutukawa.

They’re such a tenacious and joyous species that often grow in precarious positions, such as tumbling down cliff sides.

When I reflect on this ability now and your post at this time, it is encouraging me to grasp the metaphor of hope this offers for life in the time of Covid.

Christmas blessings to you all, and thanks for posting. I will definitely make a botanical pilgrimage to this beauty who is clearly feeling at home on the Way whilst as far from home as possible.

cathietherese · Dec 7, 2021

Oh, and I just found the translation. The suggested age of this beauty is astonishing given the popular history of NZ’s European settlement. Fascinating stuff.
Plus, I never knew this:
Its name Metrosideros comes from the Greek metra = heart center and sideros = iron in allusion to the hardness of its wood.
It makes absolute sense to me though. They’re such mystical trees.

DoughnutANZ · Dec 7, 2021

Thank you for this. I went over to Google Street View to check it out and it also looks great from the ground but unfortunately it wasn't in flower when the the Street View car went past. It must be even more magnificent when it is in flower.

Here is a screenshot from Google

It looks like it is even bigger than this one.

VNwalking · Dec 7, 2021

cathietherese said:
Fascinating stuff

Isn't it?
And we thought it was Tasman. Maybe, maybe not.

Somewhere in all that I read they bloom in Spain between March and May, which seems early to me. But the (much smaller!!) one I saw in a park near the harbor was not blooming in July, so maybe that's right.

DoughnutANZ · Dec 8, 2021

VNwalking said:
Are you walking the Ingles or planning to visit A Coruña before heading home

I can see that I will have to go back to A Coruña. I wish that I had known of this tree back in 2019.

Thank you!

DoughnutANZ · Dec 8, 2021

VNwalking said:
Somewhere in all that I read they bloom in Spain between March and May, which seems early to me. But the (much smaller!!) one I saw in a park near the harbor was not blooming in July, so maybe that's right.

This is consistent with the traditional wisdom that says that early flowering indicates that the coming Summer will be long and hot.

It would seem that it prefers a certain temperature range in order to flower and, in Aotearoa New Zealand, if that temperature comes early then that is usually associated with a weather cycle such as La Niña that leads to long hot summers in ANZ.

VNwalking · Dec 8, 2021

Doughnut NZ said:
I can see that I will have to go back to A Coruña. I wish that I had known of this tree back in 2019

Me too.
It's not in a park or anyplace a peregrino might go, unless on an aimless meander. Fortunately A Coruña is less than an hour from Santiago by train, so it's a nice place to visit after finishing a camino. There's other stuff to see as well. It's a nice city.

VNwalking · Dec 8, 2021

Doughnut NZ said:
It looks like it is even bigger than this one.

What a beauty!

GettingThere · Dec 10, 2021

VNwalking said:
Are you walking the Ingles or planning to visit A Coruña before heading home?

Here, courtesy of Google Maps, is a total wonder - an absolutely immense Pohutakawa. It has a pointer all its own on the map!

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

goo.gl

You can find it behind a police station (of all places), a 12 or 13 minute walk from the Igrexa de Santiago, where the arm of the Ingles from A Coruña begins. The directions tell me it takes as much time to walk as to take the bus.

So if you want to feel a little more at home before you set off - or just want to make a botanical pilgrimage - check out this amazing and venerable tree!

Here is an interesting article that mentions it - you'll need to scroll down past the botanical details; about a third of the way down the page. The history of this tree and the history of Aotearoa make a very interesting story.

Metrosideros excelsa o ( Pohutukawa "El eslabón perdido")

Nombre común : Metrosidero, Árbol de hierro, Árbol de Navidad Neozelandes. Familia : Myrtaceae. Origen : Nueva Zelanda. Introducción:...

www.unjardinsostenible.com

Edit - After posting this I realized that A Coruña and Chch are antipodes of each other. That tree is as far from home as it is possible to be and still be on the planet.

Thank you so much for posting this, @VNwalking - this is so fascinating. I had never heard about pohutukawa growing there before I went to A Coruña. I was going to upload a photo here that I took on 26th May 2019 (if that helps the flowering season debate!) but I'm on my phone and the signal isn't strong enough - I'll try again when I'm on a better connection! I was just walking along the street and saw the tree and at first it didn't even register - a flowering pohutukawa is such a familiar sight, it took some moments to click that I was still in Spain! Of course once I'd seen one they were popping up everywhere. I understand they grow further down that coast too, possibly as far as Portugal.
(Edited to add - the ones I saw were much smaller and younger than the police station beauty of course!)

VNwalking · Dec 10, 2021

GettingThere said:
I was just walking along the street and saw the tree and at first it didn't even register - a flowering pohutukawa is such a familiar sight, it took some moments to click that I was still in Spain!

So funny, because I had a similar experience in the garden by the port, and the penny didn't drop for a minute or two - until I remembered I wasn't actually in the Parnell Rose Garden or someplace like that, and what the heck were those trees doing here? In my defense they were not blooming, but still. I was completely aware of what they were.

It was a classic double take that I still remember because my response was so deluded it was funny. "Nice pohutukawa...too bad, wrong timing - they will be lovely in Decemb....Wait, what?!"

But they are small by comparison to the one up the hill. Are they cuttings? Seedlings? It would be interesting to know.

VNwalking · Dec 10, 2021

A simple Google search just led me to the answer to my question. Indeed, they are related to the parent tree up the hill.

the metrosideros, sons of the one who is in the Local Police headquarters and who arrived from New Zealand

Un paseo por los tesoros de Méndez Núñez

Son unos de los jardines más antiguos de la ciudad. Su diversidad arbórea, con monumentos y joyas arquitectónicas lo convierten en una buena alternativa para pasar un buen rato

www-lavozdegalicia-es.translate.goog

(That's quite a wonderful garden, by the way, well worth a wander.)

AlwynWellington · Dec 24, 2021

Pohutukawa:

Attached are some photos I have taken since I started training nearly 10 years ago.
Some are taken in my village and some of those from my living room window.
Some are taken around my big town of Porirua, typically have the Porirua Harbour somewhere in shot.
And some about 20 km south and some about 20 km north.

And wishing you all a merry Christmas and happy new year.

AlwynWellington · Dec 24, 2021

They were from 2012
Here are some more recently:

AlwynWellington · Dec 24, 2021

Some from earlier this week

AlwynWellington · Dec 24, 2021

and some from Christmas Eve (24 December 2021)

AlwynWellington · Dec 24, 2021

Some trees with a grand display from earlier years did not show much this years, including those I can see from my living room.

Kia kaha

VNwalking · Dec 25, 2021

Oh, my.
Thank you so much for this Christmas pressie, Alwyn. I am beset with nostalgia.

May you all be having a wonderful day, wherever you are today!

hel&scott · Jun 21, 2022

Oddly this came up on my feed today. Odd indeed as we are celebrating the rise of Pohutukawa (the star) and her sisters at our winter solstice /new year. Pohutukawa is associate with death, both the tree (at our northen most cape) and the star are viewed as the last holding place of the spirit before it is release into the heavens.

As a hardy costal tree there are Pohutukawa found on a number of places along the Galician Coast, including Muxia and Finisterre. There are also giant Cabbage trees down below the Parador at the start of the Camino in Ferrol, and even distinctive stutter cock forms of Nikau on the costal stretch of the Portuguse Camino. Not to mention numerous flax and hebes tucked into gardens. We might be flightless but Kiwis get around.

DoughnutANZ · Jun 21, 2022

hel&scott said:
... Pohutukawa is associate with death, both the tree (at our northen most cape) and the star are viewed as the last holding place of the spirit before it is release into the heavens.

As a hardy costal tree there are Pohutukawa found on a number of places along the Galician Coast, including Muxia and Finisterre. There are also giant Cabbage trees down below the Parador at the start of the Camino in Ferrol, and even distinctive stutter cock forms of Nikau on the costal stretch of the Portuguse Camino. Not to mention numerous flax and hebes tucked into gardens. We might be flightless but Kiwis get around.

My all time favorite pony is buried under a young Pohutukawa. I chose the tree because its beautiful crimson flowers matched her mane and her personality.

VNwalking · Nov 29, 2022

hel&scott said:
Not to mention numerous flax and hebes tucked into gardens

Griselinia seems to be especially mobile. It and flax have really traveled!

C clearly · Dec 3, 2022

Duckadang said:
Ms. Kilmer

Mr. Kilmer - not that it matters.

AlwynWellington · Dec 6, 2022

I was walking on Monday, as one does, on the Hutt Road near Nga'u'ra'nga and spied this display at ground level.
I turned to look across the road to a high bank (cliff) that is covered with this Po'hu'tu'kawa tree.
And at Christmas tide the bank cliff is a blaze of red.
Along with the green leaves, the alternative name is "Christmas tree".
But nothing yet.
So this harbinger was indeed a joy to behold and photograph.

VNwalking · Jul 22, 2023

DoughnutANZ said:
Here is a screenshot from Google

Different photo now, but they still went past when it wasn't flowering.

Blister Bill · Jul 22, 2023

Great one at Muxia and a lovely grove before finisterre.

VNwalking · Jul 22, 2023

Blister Bill said:
Great one at Muxia and a lovely grove before finisterre

What month were those photos taken @Blister Bill ?

Blister Bill · Jul 22, 2023

VNwalking said:
What month were those photos taken @Blister Bill ?

Late May last year. I had seen some red flowering Manuka a few times from Ourense. Then a very large cabbage tree leaving Vilasario. But the grove of pohutas at Sardineiro blew me away. There was one just before you walk on the beach before Finisterre and the narly one virtually at the point in Muxia. Would love to know they were the missing link proofing that conquistador helmet dredged up in Wellington Harbour was not random !

Blister Bill · Jul 22, 2023

VNwalking · Jul 22, 2023

I loved this article:

La edad secreta del metrosidero

www.lavozdegalicia.es

Blister Bill said:
Would love to know they were the missing link proofing that conquistador helmet dredged up in Wellington Harbour was not random !

Of course historians rubbish the speculations, but...who knows?

Those are gorgeous cabbage trees, wow.
(As @hel&scmany said, so many NZ natives are in Galician gardens it can feel like being much closer to home than exactly ½ way round the world.)

Blister Bill · Jul 22, 2023

VNwalking said:
I loved this article:

La edad secreta del metrosidero

www.lavozdegalicia.es

Of course historians rubbish the speculations, but...who knows?

Those are gorgeous cabbage trees, wow.
(As @hel&scmany said, so many NZ natives are in Galician gardens it can feel like being much closer to home than exactly ½ way round the world.)

Absolutely- coupled with the ferns it very much has a homely vibe for me.

AlwynWellington · Aug 9, 2023

VNwalking said:
but they still went past when it wasn't flowering.

I know the feeling. In my immediate area there are so many Pohutukawa it is easy to be somewhat blasé.

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