284 * PLANTS OF NEW ZEALAND 



The crimson stamens of the rata give to it, as to ether 

 species of the genus, a most attractive appearance when in 

 flower. Though not so gorgeous as the pohutukawa, it is, 

 perhaps, brighter in colour than the more southern M. lucida. 



The Maoris have a proverb about the flower, which is a 

 curious commentary upon their ideas of truthfulness. 



Keiwhawhati noa mai te ran o te rata ! 

 Don't pluck and fling about to no purpose the blossoms of the rata I 



According to Colenso, this means : 



Don't become ashamed when your lying is detected. 



The timber of the rata is hard and durable, but scarcely so 

 valuable as that of the pohutukawa. Like other species of the 

 genus, it makes excellent firewood ; and a green rata tree once 

 kindled in the bush will sometimes smoulder for months. 



Metrosideros tomentosa (The Downy Rata). 



A handsome tree, sometimes 70 ft. in height, with spreading branches. 

 Branchlets and under surfaces of leaves covered with short, dense white hairs. 

 Leaves 1 in. -3 in. long, variable in shape, with recurved margins. Flowers in 

 large terminal cymes, brilliant scarlet. Buds snow-white, woolly, petals small, 

 scarlet, stamens lin.-ljin. long, scarlet. Capsule woody, 3-lobed and 3-valved. 

 North Island : cliffs on the sea-coast. Fl. Dec. -Jan. Maori name 

 Pohutukawa. 



M. tomentosa rarely grows far from the sea or an inland 

 lake. It finds a foothold in all sorts of impossible looking 

 places. Often it clings to the side of a cliff, and puts forth 

 long twisted roots that attach it to the rocky wall. Specimens 

 may frequently be found hanging from the top of a bank, 

 with the roots above, and the branches almost dipping into 

 the sea below. Oysters may sometimes be gathered from 

 these pendent branches. When growing on level ground, 

 great bunches of red, fibrous rootlets may occasionally be seen 

 hanging from the boughs. These do not reach the ground, 

 and their function is unknown. 



