My entry for #monomad challenge.
Some more images of a tree that I find fascinating.
Pohutukawa is a tree species endemic to New Zealand. It is well known for it's beautiful bright red or yellow flowers which give it the name New Zealand Christmas tree, as it flowers spectacularly around December-the middle of our Summer! It is revered by the native Maori as a chiefly tree for it's beauty and strength.
It is also an extremely hardy tree known for it's ability to grow in seemingly impossible places-such as on vertical cliff edges and faces, and even with it's roots partially submerged in sea water.It's roots are extremely strong and can break through rock and even cement and steel in order to secure the tree to extreme positions.
Around the coast of New Zealand you will often pass under huge Pohutukawas hanging precariously above you on cliff faces. Even after falling off cliffs the trees can still survive if they retain enough of their amazing root system, which often pulls off great pieces of the cliff or rock with it, often into or near the salt water.
They grow commonly in coastal areas and are sculptured and contorted by the wind, severe weather and obstacles such as rock, brick and steel.The root systems of this tree are to me like tortured works of art.They have a chaotic but sinuous beauty that belies the incredible strength they inherently need to anchor the tree to seemingly impossible places.
The exposed roots of a Pohutukawa clinging to a vertical cliff face.
The bark of a mature tree is a micro ecosystem for other species such as vines to flourish on,often hanging from the tree in "beards"
this Pohutukawa is in a very old cemetery and started life as a seedling which over decades has grown to completely envelop the iron railing around this grave.
The next images are closeups of Pohutukawa root systems at the salt water tide level where they can still survive
I hope you have enjoyed learning about this amazing tree!