White Climbing Rātā

Metrosideros diffusa, the white rātā, climbing rātā or in Māori akakura, is a forest liane or vine endemic to New Zealand. It is one of a number of New Zealand Metrosideros species which live out their lives as vines, unlike the northern rātā (M.robusta), which generally begins as a hemi-epiphyte and grows into a huge tree. It is one of three white flowering rātā vines (the others being large white rātā and small white rātā). White rātā is the most common climbing rātā in the wild, found naturally in lowland forests throughout the North, South and Stewart islands.