1875. T. Laslett, `Timber and Timber Trees,' p. 310:
"The Rata-Tree (<i>Metrosideros robusta</i>). This magnificent tree. . . . height 80 to 100 feet . . . a clear stem to 30 and even 40 feet . . . very beautiful crimson polyandrous flowers . . . wood red, hard, heavy, close-grained, strong, and not difficult to work."
1879. H. <i>n</i>. Moseley, `Notes of a Naturalist on Challenger,' p. 278:
One of the most remarkable trees . . . is the Rata. . . . This, though a Myrtaceous plant, has all the habits of the Indian figs, reproducing them in the closest manner. It starts from a seed dropped in the fork of a tree, and grows downward to reach the ground; then taking root there, and gaining strength, chokes the supporting tree and entirely destroys it, forming a large trunk by fusion of its many stems. Nevertheless, it occasionally grows directly from the soil, and then forms a trunk more regular in form."
1883. F. S. Renwick, `Betrayed,' p. 39:
"That bark shall speed where crimson ratas gleam."
1888. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia,' vol. iii. p. 210:
"The foliage of many of the large trees is quite destroyed by the crimson flowering rata, the king of parasites, which having raised itself into the upper air by the aid of some unhappy pine, insinuates its fatal coils about its patron, until it has absorbed trunk and branch into itself, and so gathered sufficient strength to stand unaided like the chief of forest trees, flaunting in crimson splendour."
1889. T. Kirk, `Forest Flora of New Zealand,' p. 263:
"It is invariably erect, never climbing, although bushmen and settlers frequently state that it climbs the loftiest trees, and sooner or later squeezes them to death in its iron clasp. In proof of this they assert that, when felling huge ratas, they often find a dead tree in the centre of the rata: this is a common occurrence, but it by no means follows that this species is a climber. This error is simply due to imperfect observation, which has led careless observers to confuse <i>Metrosideros florida</i> [the Akal which is a true climber, with M. robusta."