Source: Radio New Zealand
Pohutukawa, Mt Victoria, Wellington Robyn Jaquiery
Flowering pōhutukawa trees are the sign summer is here – and many we have seen are already in full bloom.
But are they flowering earlier this year?
Ecologist and botanist Associate Professor Bruce Burns, from the University of Auckland, says no.
“We have had some stunning displays. I live up here at the Whangaparaoa Peninsula and and you know, it’s just been amazing, the intensity of the blooms on some trees,” he told Morning Report on Friday.
“But… it’s still within the regular flowering period of pōhutukawa. They tend to start flowering about the end of November, beginning of December, and trees will flower all the way to the end of January.”
Every pōhutukawa is different, he explained.
“Trees vary very much in when they flower., So you know, one tree itself will flower for about a month, but it will have this period of intense flowering for only about two weeks.
Pōhutukawa in flower. Bryan Crump.
“So over a population of pōhutukawa, you will get trees that flower at different times through that two-month period. So you might go out and see that we have these trees at the moment with stunning blooms, but you’ll also see trees around them with flower buds that haven’t opened yet and some trees that aren’t going to flower at all this season.”
Nor can the time and intensity of a pōhutukawa’s bloom be used to predict what kind of summer we are going to have, as some have reportedly suggested.
“Would be wonderful, wouldn’t it? To [be told that] the summer is gonna be great. And I hope very much that it will be,” Burns said. “But logically, how it flowers is really about what’s happened in the past, rather than what’s gonna happen in the future.”
And that is a combination of genetics, the environment and weather.
“People have looked at pōhutukawa and found if a tree flowers early one year, then it’s pretty much gonna flower early every year. So there is a certainly a genetic component to it… but otherwise it’s about, you know, the time leading up to the flowering season – how the weather has been, whether it’s been warm and wet and the tree’s had plenty of time to corral it’s resources to get that flowering going.”
As for where to see the best trees, Burns says pretty much anywhere in the country – but especially the top half of the North Island.
“And of course it occurs down in Wellington as well, and people around Wellington really gush about the amazing pōhutukawa around there, and I’ve heard that the trees around Te Papa are also ones that flower early and have incredible blooms. So I’m not sure there is a particularly great place to look at pōhutukawa. I mean, everyone will vote for their own local pōhutukawa, I’m sure.
“But there’s quite a lot of variety within pōhutukawa itself, so you know, there will be really great trees in just about every location in New Zealand.”
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
