Endemic to Mauna Kea, where it can also form hybrids with other species of Dubautia, and perhaps with the Mauna Kea Silversword. Dubautia arborea was once abundant on the upper slopes of Mauna Kea, before feral ungulates and game animals began destroying the upper elevation vegetation. They are now uncommon to locally common.

I have not completely sorted out the dubautia genera of arborea and linearis. There may be two kinds here, or hybrids. There's some difference in the flower and leaf structures between the two varieties shown in this gallery, which are both typical examples of the individuals local to Halepohaku and Pohakuloa.