rātā
1. (noun) rātā, Metrosideros robusta (Northern), Metrosideros umbellata (Southern) - large forest tree with crimson flowers and hard red timber. The Northern rātā is a strangling hemiepiphyte that sends roots from the canopy that thicken and fuse into an independent trunk, which eventually becomes a tall free-standing tree.
Ka tino purotu te puāwai o te rākau, arā, o te kōwhai, o te hutukawa, o te rātā, o te heketara, o te rangiora (TTT 1/4/1929:972). / The flowers of the trees were quite beautiful, that is of the kōwhai, the pōhutukawa, the rātā, the tree daisy and the rangiora.
2. (noun) scarlet rātā vine, Metrosideros fulgens - a native vine with orange-red flowers, mainly during winter.
Synonyms: whakatangitangi, akatawhiwhi, amaru, kāhikahika
