Metrosideros
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2008-03-08T16:53:53Z
Eubot
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Removed taxobox colour. See [[User:Eubot/Removing colours from taxoboxen]].
{{Taxobox
| name = ''Metrosideros''
| image = MetrosiderosAK.jpg
| image_width = 220px
| image_caption = Flowers and foliage of ''M. excelsa''
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Magnoliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Myrtales]]
| familia = [[Myrtaceae]]
| genus = '''''Metrosideros'''''
| genus_authority = [[Joseph Banks|Banks]] ex [[Joseph Gaertner|Gaertn.]]
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = See list.
}}
'''''Metrosideros''''' is a genus of approximately 50 [[tree]]s, [[shrub]]s, and [[vine]]s native to the islands of the [[Pacific Ocean]], from the [[Philippines]] to [[New Zealand]] and including the [[Bonin Islands]], [[Polynesia]], and [[Melanesia]], with an anomalous outlier in [[South Africa]]. Most of the tree forms are small, but some are exceptionally large, the New Zealand species in particular. The name derives from the [[Greek language|Greek]] ''metra'' or "heartwood" and ''sideron'' or "iron". Perhaps the best-known species are the [[pōhutukawa]], (''M. excelsa''), [[Metrosideros robusta|northern rātā]] (''M. robusta''), and [[Metrosideros umbellata|southern rātā]] (''M. umbellata'') of New Zealand, and [[Metrosideros polymorpha|{{okina}}ōhi{{okina}}a lehua]], (''M. polymorpha''), from the [[Hawaiian Islands]].
==Distribution==
[[New Caledonia]] has 21 species of ''Metrosideros'', New Zealand has twelve, Hawai{{okina}}i has five, and [[New Guinea|Papua]] has four. The remainder are scattered across small islands of the Pacific, with one outlier described from [[South Africa]]. ''Metrosideros'' seeds can disperse on the wind, which accounts for their wide distribution from a presumed origin in a greater New Zealand continent, which at the time of the breakup of [[Gondwana]] in the late [[Cretaceous]], included [[New Caledonia]]. How the genus reached Hawai{{okina}}i appears puzzling because the prevailing trade winds blow from the east. However high altitude wind patterns may have brought seeds north from the [[Marquesas Islands]], which molecular evidence suggests as the origin of the Hawaiian species from a single colonizing event (the Hawaiian ''M. polymorpha'' is similar to the widespread ''M. collina'' found in the Marquesas, and was long classified as a subspecies of it). Considering that the group likely spread north and east from New Zealand, counter to prevailing ground-level winds, this is not surprising.
==Cultivation==
''Metrosideros'' are often cultivated for their showy flowers, as street trees or in home gardens. The flowers are generally red, but some cultivars have orange, yellow or white flowers. Some names listed in horticultural catalogs and other publications, such as ''M. villosa'' and ''M. vitiensis'', are actually the names of varieties or cultivars (usually of ''M. collina'') rather than valid scientific species. Some species from New Zealand can be planted in [[temperate climate]]s, giving landscapes where planted a tropical aspect. The [[pōhutukawa]] of New Zealand has several cultivars grown in Australia and Hawai{{okina}}i and is very popular in [[California]], but the species is considered an invasive pest in parts of South Africa. ''[[Metrosideros kermadecensis]]'' is recently naturalized in Hawai{{okina}}i, and has the potential to become a pest. In turn, various cultivars of ''M. collina'' and ''M. polymorpha'' are widely grown in New Zealand under various names. [[Metrosideros umbellata]] can be found in southernmost New Zealand, as south as [[Stewart Island]] and even [[Auckland Islands]] at 50º South Latitude, it blooms in summer and is the hardiest member of the genus.
==''Metrosideros'' species==
There are approximately 50 species of ''Metrosideros'', in three subgenera: ''Mearnsia'', 24 or 25 species, trees, shrubs (some [[epiphytic]]) and vines, with red, pink or white flowers; ''Metrosideros'', 26 species, trees and shrubs, flowers mostly red, but some species have yellow or white flowers; and ''Carpolepsis'', 3 species of hemi-epiphytic rainforest trees from New Caledonia, all with bright yellow flowers.
subgenus ''Metrosideros''
* ''M. bartlettii '' [[Metrosideros bartlettii|Bartlett's rātā]] (New Zealand)
* ''M. boninensis'' (Bonin Islands)
* ''M. cherrieri'' (New Caledonia)
* ''M. collina'' (from [[Vanuatu]] in the southwest to [[French Polynesia]] in the east)
* ''M. engleriana'' (New Caledonia)
* ''M. excelsa'' - [[pōhutukawa]] (New Zealand)
* ''M. gregoryi'' ([[Samoa]])
* ''M. humboldtiana'' (New Caledonia)
* ''M. kermadecensis'' ([[Metrosideros kermadecensis|Kermadec pōhutukawa]]) ([[Kermadec Islands]])
* ''M. macropus'' - [[Metrosideros macropus|lehua mamo]] (Hawai{{okina}}i)
* ''M. microphylla'' (New Caledonia)
* ''M. nervulosa'' ([[Lord Howe Island]])
* ''M. nitida'' (New Caledonia)
* ''M. ochrantha'' (Fiji)
* ''M. oreomyrtus'' (New Caledonia)
* ''M. polymorpha'' - [[Metrosideros polymorpha|{{okina}}ōhi{{okina}}a lehua]] (Hawai{{okina}}i)
* ''M. punctata'' (New Caledonia)
* ''M. robusta'' - [[Metrosideros robusta|northern rātā]] (New Zealand)
* ''M. rugosa'' - [[Metrosideros rugosa|lehua papa]] (Hawai{{okina}}i)
* ''M. salomonensis'' ([[Solomon Islands]]; this species has been variously placed in both subgenera)
* ''M. sclerocarpa'' (Lord Howe Island)
* ''M. tetrasticha'' (New Caledonia)
* ''M. tremuloides'' - [[Metrosideros tremuloides|lehua {{okina}}āhihi]] (Hawai{{okina}}i)
* ''M. umbellata'' - [[Metrosideros umbellata|southern rātā]] (New Zealand)
* ''M. waialeaiae'' (Hawai{{okina}}i)
subgenus ''Mearnsia''
* ''M. albiflora'' (New Zealand)
* ''M. angustifolia'' (South Africa)
* ''M. brevistylis'' (New Caledonia)
* ''M. cacuminum'' (New Caledonia)
* ''M. carminea'' - [[Metrosideros carminea|Carmine rātā]] (New Zealand)
* ''M. colensoi'' (New Zealand)
* ''M. cordata'' (New Guinea)
* ''M. diffusa'' (New Zealand)
* ''M. dolichandra'' (New Caledonia)
* ''M. fulgens'' - [[Metrosideros fulgens|Scarlet rātā]] (New Zealand)
* ''M. halconensis'' (Philippines)
* ''M. longipetiolata'' (New Caledonia)
* ''M. operculata'' (New Caledonia)
* ''M. ovata'' (New Guinea)
* ''M. paniensis'' (New Caledonia)
* ''M. parkinsonii'' (New Zealand)
* ''M. patens'' (New Caledonia)
* ''M. perforata'' (New Zealand)
* ''M. porphyrea'' (New Caledonia)
* ''M. ramiflora'' (New Guinea)
* ''M. rotundifolia'' (New Caledonia)
* ''M. scandens'' (New Guinea)
* ''M. whitakeri'' (New Caledonia)
* ''M. whiteana'' (New Guinea)
* ''M.'' n. sp. (un-named) ([[Solomon Islands]])
subgenus ''Carpolepsis''
* ''M. elegans'' (New Caledonia)
* ''M. laurifolia'' (New Caledonia)
* ''M. tardiflora'' (New Caledonia)
==References==
{{Commonscat|Metrosideros}}
{{Wikispecies|Metrosideros}}
* Simpson, P., 2005. Pōhutukawa & Rātā: New Zealand's Iron-Hearted Trees''. Te Papa Press. 346 pp.
* Wagner, W.L., D. R. Herbst, and S.H. Sohmer. 1999. ''Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawaii''. Revised edition. University of Hawai{{okina}}i Press and Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp.
* Wright, S. D., C. G. Yong, S. R. Wichman, J. W. Dawson, and R. C. Gardner. (2001). Stepping stones to Hawaii: a trans-equatorial dispersal pathway for Metrosideros (Myrtaceae) inferred from nrDNA (ITS+ETS). ''J. Biogeography'', 28(6): 769-774.
* Wright, S. D., R. D. Gray, and R. C. Gardner. (2003). Energy and the rate of evolution: inferences from plant rDNA substitution rates in the Western Pacific. ''Evolution'', 57(12): 2893–2898.
* {{cite web |first=S.D. |last=Wright |coauthors=C. G. Yong, J. W. Dawson, D. J. Whittaker, and R. C. Gardner |title=Riding the ice age El Niño? Pacific biogeography and evolution of ''Metrosideros'' subg. ''Metrosideros'' (Myrtaceae) inferred from nuclear ribosomal DNA |publisher=|date=[[2000-03-21]] |work=PNAS |url=http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/97/8/4118.pdf |accessdate=2007-06-13 }}
[[Category:Metrosideros]]
[[Category:Trees of Hawaii]]
[[Category:Trees of New Zealand]]
[[Category:Flora of New Caledonia]]
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