Rumphius (Herb. Amboin. 3, 1743, 19, t. 7) was the first to use the name Metrosideros, but of the 6 species he listed only the first, M. vera, belongs to the Myrtaceae. The same species is assumed to be the basis of Nani Adanson (Adanson, Families des Plantes 2, 1763, 88). Adanson did not list any species, but the assumption is based on the description and the fact that Rumphius had given the vernacular name of his Metrosideros vera as ‘Nani tree’.