Identifying our climbing rata

There are six species of climbing rata in New Zealand that germinate in the forest floor and climb their way up a host tree to reach sunlight. Unlike two of their cousins (M. bartlettii and M. robusta, these six species never become independent trees. This blog looks at their features and how we can tell them apart. 

You are most likely to find Metrosideros perforata, M. diffusa and M. fulgens while frolicking in the forest. Metrosideros carminea, M. colensoi and M. albiflora are less common. 

My apologies now for the concious spelling mistake: rata should be rātā but I can't match fonts and it looks pretty bad so I'm just going to try and get away with it :) Also, I'm not an expert with these species so please feel free to add any tips or photos that will help to tell them apart!

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Leaves

It is usually pretty easy to inspect the leaves of the plant you're looking at. Check all the stems you can find - if they are juvenile vines they will have lots of leaves - if they are more mature then the leaves will be fewer but you can often find some on the ground or on small shoots from the main vine. 

Bark

As the climbing rata mature, their vines thicken and can reach over 20 cm in diameter. Check out their bark for identity clues. I don't have bark photos for M. albiflora or M. carminea sorry.

Flowers

The flowers of our climbing rata can be a real treat in the forest, they are either white or red:

White flowers:
M. colensoi
M. diffusa
M. perforata
M. albiflora

Red flowers:
M. fulgens
M. carminea

No flower photos for M. albiflora or M. colensoi sorry, let me know if you've got some!

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I hope that is useful... next time you're in the forest take some photos and post them here to build our collection!
A quick note: if you've received this blog via email please visit the website: nzepiphytenetwork.org to see the images, they don't work in the automatic email feed sorry.

Metrosideros fulgens cloaking a tawa on Mt. Pirongia. Photo: C. Kirby