There are actually some yellow pohutukawa trees in New Zealand. These are a kind of subspecies that can be seen in some areas of the country.
The pohutukawa tree is one of the iconic trees of the coastal areas of the north island of New Zealand. It is so cool to see these gnarled, old, huge trees hugging a cliff over the ocean or a beach. Then in the summer time they turn an absurdly bright red when they flower. Well, most of them turn red, some of them do in fact have yellow flowers.
Yellow Pohutukawa Trees!
I like to think of the yellow pohutkawa tree as a kind of anomaly or aberration. It’s unusual and different, kind of like a black sheep. It has all the same features and functions, but it’s a different color. Well, these trees are the same as the much more common pohutukawa trees that have red flowers except they have yellow flowers.
The more common Pohutukawa, or crimson species, has red flowers. These are a cluster of long, red stamens that can completely cover the tree in December and January and turn the tree red. Well, these yellow species have yellow rather than red stamens. The trees get covered in these yellow flowers. The yellow flowers do not stand out in quite as sharp contrast as the red flowers do, but they still cover the tree.
Something that is rare or unique sometimes gets valued highly or is regarded as special. Well, this tree is no different. The Maori regard these yellow trees as a taonga or treasure.
These yellow trees all descended from a pair of trees that grew on Motiti island in the Bay of Plenty. They grew naturally there and were then given to various locations across NZ to grow and to a nursery, which sold them commercially. They now grow in a few areas of the north island including around the Bay of Plenty and Taranaki.