Small ratavine

Metrosideros diffusa, white rātā, climbing rātā or akakura, is a high-climbing evergreen woody vine in the family Myrtaceae, endemic to New Zealand and the most common of the country's climbing rātā species. It occurs naturally in lowland and lower-montane forests throughout the North, South and Stewart Islands, ascending from forest floor to canopy by means of densely produced aerial rootlets that anchor the slender stems firmly to host trunks. Unlike some related species, M. diffusa remains a true liana throughout its life and does not become a self-supporting tree. The opposite, leathery, glabrous leaves are small, glossy and elliptic to narrowly ovate, generally 1 to 2 cm long. Profuse terminal cymes of small white to pale pink flowers, each with conspicuous projecting stamens, are produced in great abundance from mid-spring through early summer and create a frothy mass of bloom on the host tree. Fruits are small, dry, three-valved capsules releasing many tiny seeds.