Rātā giants used to be common, alongside tall strong Rimu they formed a high forest canopy over much of our country. Karamea’s walking giant is an example of the wonder that used to be.
The age of Karamea’s walking tree is unknown. The Northern rātā, Metrosideros Robusta, can live up to 1,000 years, considering settlement in Karamea took place 148 years ago, on the 26th Nov 1874, many locals believe the tree to be older than the settlement. We do know that the Northern rātā is one of New Zealand’s tallest flowering trees (flowering every few years).
It begins as a seed landing on a host tree, such as a Rimu, becoming an epiphyte (or plant perched on a host tree) high in the forest canopy. Its roots grow down to the ground, finally enclosing the host tree which then becomes compost for the growing rātā to feed on and finally ends up as a huge tree up to 40 metres high with a trunk up to three metres in diameter.
It was one lucky tree to not be felled when the settlers cleared the land for farming. When settlers came from the United Kingdom to Karamea the whole district was heavily forested. It took days of chopping the trees down to see any surrounding countryside.
Perhaps the tree was already well established and too big of a task to fell, perhaps ethically they didn’t remove it, or maybe quite simply it wasn’t in the way, so the land was cleared around it. This amazing walking tree has somehow evaded the possums, who find rātā one of their favourite foods.
This is rather mind-blowing considering that North Island possums have eaten the Northern rātās to extinction up there. Over centuries this rātā has survived floods, and fires and adapted to changing surroundings as Karamea developed with roads, dairy farming, and timber milling. This friendly walking giant is now protected. All rātā species are currently listed as threatened, partly due to the potential threat from myrtle rust.
