A centuries-old Dunedin tree is facing some fierce competition from a northern rival as the battle for New Zealand’s top tree heats up.
The ‘‘Mighty Old Mataī’’, at Glenfalloch Woodland Gardens, is one of six finalists vying for the top title in this year’s New Zealand Tree of the Year competition.
Despite falling down in February, the prominent tree, thought to be up to 1000 years old, was believed by the competition’s organisers and the man who nominated it to still be standing, when announced as a finalist earlier this month.
While that does not appear to have hurt the tree’s chances of winning the competition, its victory is still far from guaranteed.
Competition chairman Brad Cadwallader said the mataī was “the clear frontrunner” on Monday, having attracted “significant national attention” since the revelation it had fallen.
However, Tawa’s “Bucket Tree” yesterday surged into the lead.
“The leaderboard has changed significantly over the past few days,” Mr Cadwallader said.
“The competition is proving to be very dynamic.”
The largest surge in votes came immediately after it emerged the mataī had fallen.
Voting remained strong across all finalists and the numbers continued to fluctuate as communities rallied behind their local trees, Mr Cadwallader said.
“It's still very much anyone's game.
“We've seen substantial shifts in the leaderboard over a short period of time, and there is plenty of voting still to come.”
The results as of Tuesday afternoon.
While this particular mataī may have fallen, its legacy is far from over.
As many as four seedlings of the mataī are growing on a 4.5ha property overlooking Hoopers Inlet owned by Dr Peter Cooke, a retired GP, and his wife Anna Moore.
About 10 years ago, there were very few mataī on the peninsula — the biggest being the one at Glenfalloch, Dr Cooke said.
He went to look at it one day and found seed “all over the ground”.
“So I gathered up a whole lot of seed and it all germinated.
“I had mataī seedlings coming out my ears.”
A few were planted at his property, the rest went to Larnach Castle and a friend in the North Island.
While he was sad about the mataī’s collapse, Dr Cooke believed people would be pleased to know its “progeny” lived on.
“It will take another thousand years to get to that size.
“They look scrappy. They're very sort of branchy and not much of a tree, but they're on the way.”
Voting is open at www.treeoftheyear.co.nz until June 30.
