Northern rata

Metrosideros robusta A.Cunn. (Myrtaceae), northern rātā, is a long-lived endemic tree of New Zealand's North Island and the northern South Island, where it characteristically begins life as a hemiepiphyte germinating high in the canopy of a host tree, sending aerial roots downward that eventually coalesce into a massive multiple trunk after the host decays. Mature specimens reach 25-30 m tall with a heavy spreading crown and gnarled, fluted trunks 1-2 m or more in diameter. The opposite, leathery leaves are oblong to elliptic, 2.5-5 cm long, with rounded apices, glossy dark green above and paler below. From November to January the canopy bursts into dense terminal cymes of brilliant crimson flowers whose mass of long red stamens forms a pohutukawa-like display. Small woody capsules release abundant minute, wind-dispersed seeds. It grows in lowland to montane rain forest on a wide range of host species.