page_title: Metrosideros excelsa
section_title: Conservation
hierarchical_section_title: Metrosideros excelsa / Conservation
caption_attribution_description: Flowers of the Pohutukawa tree (Metrosideros excelsa), also called New Zealand Christmas Tree
context_page_description: Metrosideros excelsa, with common names pohutukawa, New Zealand Christmas tree, New Zealand Christmas bush, and iron tree, is a coastal evergreen tree in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, that produces a brilliant display of red flowers made up of a mass of stamens. The pohutukawa is one of twelve Metrosideros species endemic to New Zealand. Renowned for its vibrant colour and its ability to survive even perched on rocky, precarious cliffs, it has found an important place in New Zealand culture for its strength and beauty and is regarded as a chiefly tree by Māori. The blossom of the tree is called kahika.
context_section_description: In New Zealand, the pohutukawa is under threat from browsing by the introduced common brushtail possum which strips the tree of its leaves. A charitable conservation trust, Project Crimson, has the aim of reversing the decline of pohutukawa and other Metrosideros species – its mission statement is "to enable pohutukawa and rata to flourish again in their natural habitat as icons in the hearts and minds of all New Zealanders".
caption: Pohutukawa in bloom
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