Pohutukawa

My Reading group was reading all about the pohutukawa tree. Did you know that pohutukawa tree blooms into beautiful bright red flowers at Christmas time in New Zealand.

Pōhutakawa Junior Journal 45 ✓

Because the pōhutukawa has red flowers and it blooms in December, it is often thought of as New Zealand’s Christmas ✓ tree. The pōhutukawa is special to Maori, and it provides a  habitat   ✓        and food for many creatures. 

Pōhutukawa prefer to grow in warm places by the sea, and they have special  features     ✓            which help them grow in sandy soil. The top of its leaves are shiny and green with a          waxy   ✓     coating which helps protect them from the salt, sun and dry conditions. 

The   bark    ✓           is rough which protects the tree from losing water through its trunk and branches. New flower buds have a special covering which helps  Nectves  protect         them from wind and salt. The roots grow deep into the soil or sand. They take water from the ground to help them grow and stand up. 

Pōhutukawa provide a home and food for birds,  leaves  insects          and other creatures. Some  sea birds such as shags make their nests in their branches. Other birds, like the tui, eat the nectar  from the flowers. Lizards and pekapeka also like to eat the nectar. Insects such as weevils and moths eat the leaves, flowers, wood and bark, and live in the dead   insects leaves    under the trees. 

protect	Christmas	habitat	waxy	insects
seabirds	Nectar	leaves	features	bark