Common on rhyolite rock outcrops, especially in exposed portions protruding from surrounding coastal forest.

Images correspond to Xeronema callistemon f. callistemon (see de Lange & Cameron 1999)

de Lange, P.J.; Cameron, E.K. 1999: The vascular flora of Aorangi Island, Poor Knights Islands, northern New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 37: 433-468.