Callistosporium vinosobrunneum grows solitarily to scattered on the rotting wood of the flowering evergreen tree ʻōhiʻa lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha).
Alien grasses such as meadow ricegrass (Ehrharta stipoides) may form an understory that prevents or inhibits natural regeneration of the forests.
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In drier areas, M. polymorpha has to compete with silk oak (Grevillea robusta) and fountain grass (Pennisetum setaceum).
Endemic to Hawaii, Pleurocybella ohiae is known only from a single collection, where it was found growing solitarily on the bark of Metrosideros polymorpha in the Ohia montane wet forests.
There are numerous strains of the Puccinia psidii rust—some known to be established in Florida, and at least one reported from California and there is concern that strains may exist or develop that could be devastating to ohia (Metrosideros polymorpha), one of Hawaii's dominant native trees, a foundation species for many remaining Hawaiian native ecosystems.
Metrosideros robusta | Metrosideros polymorpha | Metrosideros excelsa | Metrosideros umbellata |
Much of Kīlauea's southern ecosystem lies within the Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, where a’e ferns, ʻōhiʻa trees (Metrosideros polymorpha), and hapu’u of the genus Cibotium are common.