Of Trees and Ferns

After my walk/picnic today in the lovely Wellington Botanic Gardens, I started thinking about the large amount of strange foliage here in New Zealand. In the gardens, there is a particular plaque which I like which explains why the Southern Hemisphere has such different vegetation than the Northern one.

But most importantly, we should discuss the Pohutukawa tree. It's crazy in bloom right now, and let me just say that I didn't know what it was until I googled "New Zealand tree with red fluffs." It looks like this:

LOOK HOW CUTE THESE FLUFFS ARE

I feel like it's a New Zealand attempt at a truffula tree.

Yes, I see a resemblance.

So apparently the Pohutukawa tree is considered a NZ staple around Christmastime, and like everything else essentially Kiwi, there's a Maori legend involved. This one says that a young Maori warrior wished to climb to heaven to avenge his father, but fell. The red fluffs represent his blood. I'm sure it sounds a lot more serious if you don't refer to them as fluffs...

This is by far my favorite of the NZ trees, but they have some really awesome, prehistoric looking trees. Mostly, it just seems really jungly and like a scene from Jurassic Park here. Seriously though. I always feel like I've just stepped into the jungle. My North American/European self is not really sure how to handle it.
Oh! I almost forgot the most Kiwi of all the plants. How could I?? The silver fern is an icon of everything that is New Zealand, in case you weren't already aware. The All Blacks (the national rugby team), as well as many other sports teams use the silver fern as their logo. It's called ponga in Maori, and it is seriously EVERYWHERE. It's so Kiwi that if someone has it as a tattoo, you can guarantee that they are either from NZ or are practically in love with the place. 

Unofficial Kiwi flag

But I like the ferns. I think they're cool, and it reminds me that I'm in New Zealand, and I'm lucky to be here every time I see them.

I particularly like when they're just sprouting or whatever you call this action