| Title : Pohutukawa & Rata - NZ’s Iron-hearted Trees
Author : Dr Philip Simpson
Published by : Te Papa Press, 2005, with the generous support of the Project Crimson Trust
240 x 290mm, 346 pp, ISBN 1877385131 (hbk.) RRP : $99.99; 0909010994 (pbk.) RRP : $59.99, illustrated (some colour), maps
|
|
Dr Philip Simpson’s magnificent, profusely illustrated, 346 p soft-cover book, published in
2005, will be available at BotSoc’s evening meetings, or for collection from 28 Kaihuia St,
Northland, Wellington, for the special price of $50! Te Papa Press sell us the book in boxes
of eight. We need more orders before we can obtain our next box. From the sale of each
book, $2 goes to BotSoc’s Jubilee Award Fund.
From the cover –
 |
Pohutukawa and rata are beloved symbols of Aotearoa New Zealand, representing summer, nationhood and our unique natural environment.
Flourishing crimson forests and a coastal ‘ring of fire’ greeted the first human visitors to New Zealand. Yet today, these trees are in decline, their survival threatened by possums, progress and people.
This book is a celebration of pohutukawa and rata, as well as a passionate call for their preservation. Full of fascinating research, it explores their evolution and development, their role in Maori mythology, language and spiritual life, their value to pakeha and their surprising uses.
Generously illustrated with over 400 contemporary and archival images, this book also features many examples of pohutukawa and rata in art and design, textiles and advertising, literature and poetry.
Pohutukawa and Rata - New Zealand’s Iron-hearted Trees is an essential resource for teachers and pupils, gardeners and horticulturalists, lovers of history and art, and anyone committed to the future of New Zealand’s precious flora and fauna.
Part One of the book outlines the place of rata and pohutukawa in the natural world: their ancient Gondwanaland origins, their place in the myrtle family and their genus, Metrosideros (literally ‘iron-hearted’, in reference to their extraordinarily strong wood). It explains the unique adaptive features that enable the trees to survive in New Zealand and illustrates the many extraordinary plants and animals that live with them.
Part Two reveals the historical and cultural significance of pohutukawa and rata, exploring their role in Maori mythology, language and traditional life, and discussing important individual trees in Maori culture. Here, readers will learn about the many uses of the trees throughout time, both practical (for timber, medicine, food, drink and shelter) and symbolic (as environmental motifs, tourist icons and symbols of Christmas). This section includes hints on living harmoniously with the trees and advice on how to grow and care for them. Chapter 8 illustrates the role of pohutukawa and rata in New Zealand art, literature and design, and contains dozens of illustrations, maps and archival images as well as artworks from many of our most celebrated artists.
The final chapters address the sad history of damage and decline in pohutukawa and rata numbers, and the causes: bush clearance, burning, possums and people. But alongside this are the ‘good news stories’ of the ongoing fight to protect and conserve the trees. Ultimately, the author offers a vision for restoring to New Zealand a landscape of flourishing crimson forests, like those that greeted the earliest human visitors to our shores.
Philip Simpson is an expert botanist and the author of the award-winning Dancing Leaves - The Story of New Zealand’s Cabbage Tree, Ti Kouka.
|
