Metrosideros macropus
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| Metrosideros macropus | ||||||||||||||
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 lehua mamo tree
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| Metrosideros macropus A. Gray |
Metrosideros macropus (lehua mamo), is a tree of the myrtle family which is endemic to the island of Oʻahu in the Hawaiian Islands. It is closely related to the widespread and highly variable Metrosideros polymorpha (ʻōhiʻa lehua), found throughout the islands. Lehua mamo, however, is only found in the Koʻolau mountains. It is distinguished from M. polymorpha by the elongate leaf petioles (1/3-1/2 as long as the leaf blades, compared to less than 1/4 as long in M. polymorpha) and the consistently yellow flowers. The latter character is also found in some varieties of M. polymorpha, which normally has red flowers, but the flowers of M. macropus are never red.
