pōhutukawa
1. (noun) pōhutukawa, New Zealand Christmas tree, Metrosideros excelsa, Metrosideros kermadecensis, Metrosideros bartlettii - trees found in coastal areas which bear large, red flowers about Christmas time and have leaves which are velvety-white underneath. Metrosideros bartlettii has white flowers and occurs in the northern North Island.
Ka whakataukī atu a Kiwi ki a Waha-akiaki, “Kia pēnei, tō kōuma āpōpō e iri ana i te pōhutukawa i Kai-arero.” (JPS 1923:234) / Kiwi uttered a proverb to Waha-akiaki, “It will be like this, tomorrow your breast-bone will be hanging on the pōhutukawa tree at Kai-arero.”
Pōhutukawa
1. (personal noun) Sterope - one of the stars in Te Kāhui o Matariki, the Pleiades star cluster. A female star that connects Matariki to the dead.
Waihoki, e rua atu anō ngā whetū o Matariki ka tautuhia e Te Kōkau e iwa ai te katoa o te kāhui. Ko ēnei whetū, ko Pōhutukawa rāua ko Hiwa-i-te-rangi (Matariki 2017:22). / Furthermore, Te Kōkau identifies two other stars in Matariki, giving nine altogether in the cluster. These stars are Pōhutukawa (Sterope) and Hiwa-i-te-rangi (Calaeno).
