Maori name for a magnificent New Zealand tree, Metrosideros tomentosa, A. Cunn., N.O. Myrtaceae, called Christmas-tree and Fire-tree bythe settlers. There is a Maori verb, pohutu, to splash. Kawa (n.) is a sprig of any kind used in religiousceremonies; the name would thus mean Splashed sprig.The wood of the tree is very durable, and a concoction of theinner bark is useful in dysentery.
1835. W. Yate, `Some Account of New Zealand,' p. 46:
«Pohutukawa ( Callistemon ellipticus). This is a treeof remarkably robust habits and diffuse irregular growth.»
1855. G. Grey, `Polynesian Mythology,' p. 142:
«On arrival of Arawa canoe, the red flowers of the pohutakawawere substituted for the red ornaments in the hair.»
1862. `All the Year Round,' `From the Black Rocks on Friday,'May 17, 1862, No. 160:
«In the clefts of the rocks were growing shrubs, with here andthere the larger growth of a pohutukawa, a large crooked-limbedevergreen tree found in New Zealand, and bearing, aboutChristmas, a most beautiful crimson bloom. The boat-buildersin New Zealand use the crooked limbs of this tree for the kneesand elbows of their boats.»
1873. `Catalogue of Vienna Exhibition':
«Pohutukawa for knees, ribs, and bent-pieces, invaluable toship-builder. It surpasses English oak. Confined to Provinceof Auckland.»
1875. T. Laslett, `Timber and Timber Trees,' p. 310:
«The pohutukawa-tree ( Metrosideros tomentosa) requiresan exposed situation . . . is crooked, misshapen. . . .The natives speak of it (the timber) as very durable.»
1886. J. A. Fronde, `Oceana,' p. 308:
«Low down on the shore the graceful native Pokutukawa [sic] wasleft undisturbed, the finest of the Rata tribe – – at a distancelike an ilex, only larger than any ilex I ever saw, thebranches twisted into the most fantastic shapes, stretching outtill their weight bears them to the ground or to the water.Pokutukawa, in Maori language, means `dipped in the sea-spray.'In spring and summer it bears a brilliant crimson flower.»