Classification
Class
Magnoliopsida Brongn.
Order
Myrtales Juss. ex Bercht. & J.Presl
Family
Myrtaceae
Genus
Metrosideros Banks ex Gaertn.
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Metrosideros carminea W.R.B.Oliv., Trans. New Zealand Inst. 59: 420 (1928)
Synonymy:
  • = Metrosideros diffusa Hook.f., Bot. Antarct. Voy. II. (Fl. Nov.-Zel.) Part I, 67 (1852) nom. illeg., non Metrosideros diffusa (G.Forst.) Sm. 1797
Vernacular Name(s):
Aka; Akakura; Crimson rata
 Description

Liane up to 15 m. or more tall, with branchlets, infl.-axes, receptacle setose to pubescent. Lvs on petioles ± 1 mm. long; lamina coriac., elliptic- to ovate-oblong to broad ovate, obtuse to subacute, 15–35 × 7–10–(20) mm. Infl. in us. terminal compound cymes with ∞ very bright carmine fls on pedicels ± 5 mm. long; sepals broad-oblong, ± 2 mm. long; petals suborbicular, shortly clawed, ± 5 × 4 mm., margins us. toothed; stamens 10–15 mm. long. Ovary adnate to and distinctly exceeded by receptacle. Capsule subglobose, 6–7–(9) mm. diam.

[From: Allan (1961) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 1.]

 Biostatus
Indigenous (Endemic)
 Phenology

Flowering: Aug.–Oct.; Fruiting: Nov.–Mar.

 Bibliography
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Barkla J.W.; Courtney, S.P.; Champion, P.D.; Perrie, L.R.; Beadel, S.N.; Ford, K.A.; Breitwieser, I.; Schönberger, I.; Hindmarsh-Walls, R.; Heenan, P.B.; Ladley, K. 2018: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017. New Zealand Threat Classification Series. No. 22. [Nationally Vulnerable]
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Champion, P.D.; Courtney, S.P.; Heenan, P.B.; Barkla, J.W.; Cameron, E.K.; Norton, D.A.; Hitchmough, R.A. 2013: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2012. New Zealand Threat Classification Series 3. Department of Conservation, Wellington. [Not Threatened]
Hooker, J.D. 1852–1853 ("1853"): The Botany of the Antarctic Voyage of H.M. Discovery Ships Erebus and Terror in the Years 1839–1843, under the command of Captain Sir James Clark Ross. II. Flora Novae-Zelandiae. Part I. Flowering plants. Lovell Reeve, London.
Oliver, W.R.B. 1928: The New Zealand species of Metrosideros with a note on Metrosideros collina (Forst.) Gray. Transactions of the New Zealand Institute 59: 419–423.