Metrosideros vitiensis

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]

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]