Editing Pōhutukawa (section)

==Distribution==
[[File:Ejemplar de pohutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa), Campo de San Francisco, Ponta Delgada, isla de San Miguel, Azores, Portugal, 2020-07-28, DD 09.jpg|thumb|right|''Metrosideros excelsa'' on [[Ponta Delgada]], [[Azores]], [[Portugal]]]]
The pōhutukawa's natural range is the coastal regions of the [[North Island]] of New Zealand, north of a line stretching from [[New Plymouth]] (39° S) to [[Gisborne, New Zealand|Gisborne]] (38° S),<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.doc.govt.nz/upload/documents/science-and-technical/casn100.pdf|title=Pohutukawa and Diversity|first=Philip G.|last=Simpson|series=Conservation Advisory Science Notes No. 100|publisher=Department of Conservation|year=1994|issn=1171-9834|page=3}}</ref> where it once formed a continuous coastal fringe. By the 1990s, pastoral farming and introduced pests had reduced pōhutukawa forests by over 90%.<ref name="KING"/> It also occurs naturally on the shores of lakes in the [[Rotorua]] area and in [[Abel Tasman National Park]] at the top of South Island.{{cn|date=February 2025}}

The tree is renowned as a cliff-dweller, able to maintain a hold in precarious, near-vertical situations. Like its [[Hawaii]]an relative the ''{{lang|haw|{{okina}}ōhi{{okina}}a lehua}}'' (''[[Metrosideros polymorpha|M.&nbsp;polymorpha]]''), the pōhutukawa has been shown to be efficient in the colonisation of [[lava plain]]s – notably on [[Rangitoto Island|Rangitoto]], a volcanic island in the Hauraki Gulf.<ref name="Wassilieff">{{cite web|title=Tall broadleaf trees – Pōhutukawa|url=http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/tall-broadleaf-trees/3|access-date=2011-01-07|publisher=Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand}}</ref>