Metrosideros vitiensis

Metrosideros vitiensis is a species of flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae. It is a shrub or tree native to Vanuatu, Fiji, and the Samoan Islands.^[1]

Metrosideros vitiensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Myrtales
Family:	Myrtaceae
Genus:	Metrosideros
Species:	M. vitiensis
Binomial name
Metrosideros vitiensis (A.Gray) Villon (2015)
Synonyms[1]
Metrosideros collina var. vitiensis A.Gray (1854) Metrosideros collina var. fruticosa J.W.Moore (1963) Tristania vitiensis A.C.Sm. (1936)

Taxonomy

Metrosideros vitiensis was formerly included within M. collina. A phylogenetic study, published in 2015 by Pillon et al., found that M. collina comprised two genetically distinct groups. The populations in Vanuatu, Fiji, and the Samoan Islands were recognized as a distinct species, M. vitiensis, while the populations in the Cook Islands, French Polynesia, and Pitcairn Islands remained in M. collina.^[2]

Habitat

On the larger Fijian islands, Metrosideros vitiensis is a characteristic tree in montane rain forests on windy slopes from 400 to 600 meters elevation. It is a common canopy tree in the low, stunted forest, with the associated trees Agathis vitiensis, Podocarpus spp., Calophyllum vitiense, Endospermum macrophyllum, Myristica castaneifolia, and Didymocheton spp.^[3]

In the Samoan Islands, M. vitiensis is a common tree on upland lava flows.^[4]