What is "metrosideros robusta"

Rata \Ra"ta\ (r[aum]"t[.a]), n. [Maori.] (Bot.) A New Zealand forest tree ( Metrosideros robusta), also, its hard dark red wood, used by the Maoris for paddles and war clubs.

Northern rātā (Metrosideros robusta) is a huge forest tree endemic to New Zealand. It grows up to or taller, and usually begins its life as a hemiepiphyte high in the branches of a mature forest tree; over centuries the young tree sends descending and girdling roots down and around the trunk of its host, eventually forming a massive, frequently hollow pseudotrunk composed of fused roots. In disturbed ground, or where there are gaps in the forest cover, Northern rātā will grow on the ground with a normal but short trunk.