Editing Pōhutukawa (section)

==Description==
[[File:YellowPohutukawa.jpg|thumb|right|The yellow-flowering "Aurea" cultivar]]
Pōhutukawa grow up to {{convert|25|m|ft}} high, with a spreading, dome-like form. They usually grow as a multi-trunked spreading tree. Their trunks and branches are sometimes festooned with matted, fibrous [[aerial root]]s. The oblong, leathery leaves are covered in dense white hairs underneath.<ref name="Wassilieff"/>

The tree flowers from November to January with a peak in early summer (mid to late December), with brilliant crimson flowers covering the tree, hence the nickname New Zealand Christmas tree. The first published reference to pōhutakawa as a Christmas tree was in 1857, in a newspaper report of a feast held by [[Eruera Maihi Patuone|Eruera Patuone]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pōhutukawa trees |url=https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/pohutukawa-trees |access-date=2024-12-13 |website=nzhistory.govt.nz}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=30 December 1857 |title=Maori Christmas Feast |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZ18571230.2.11 |work=New Zealander |pages=3 |via=PapersPast |volume=XIII |issue=1221}}</ref> There is variation between individual trees in the timing of flowering, and in the shade and brightness of the flowers. In isolated populations [[genetic drift]] has resulted in local variation: many of the trees growing around the Rotorua lakes produce pink-shaded flowers, and the yellow-flowered [[cultivar]] 'Aurea' descends from a pair discovered in 1940 on [[Mōtītī Island]] in the [[Bay of Plenty]]. {{cn|date=February 2025}}