Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 39, Number 5, 1 May 2022 — 'Ōhi'a Lehua [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

'Ōhi'a Lehua

<NĀ MEAKANU 'ĀPA'AKUMA O HAWAI'I NEI < ENDEMIC PLANTS OF HAWAI'I r

By Bobby Camara "Pōki'i ka ua, ua i ka lehua. The rain, like a younger brother, remains with the lehua." Said ofthe rain that clings to theforest where 'ōhi'a trees grow. - 'Ōlelo No'eau 2685

^ ^ hi'a lehua, most numerous of our lā'au kama aina, are noted gatherers of fogs, mists, Ē ■ and rains. Moisture captured in tree canopies trickles down to the ground, and helps ■ Ē replenish our aquifers. X. f Making their way from Tasmania, wafted on winds as they island-hopped over eons, tiny 'ōhi'a seeds arrived on our shores and were able to colonize a multiplicity of habitats. Diverse genetics, exhibited in lehua ranging from blood red to the palest of yellows, liko (leaf shoots) in a bewildering array of forms and color, trees tall and thin, short and spreading, eaeh unique and different as we are. 'Ōhi'a are used for framing hale and for firewood, carved ki'i (fetchers of mana) represent many akua, and lei lehua and liko honor deities during hula. ■

Kanoelehua: mists condense on lihilihi, Branches tipped with uniquely colored Remarkably tiny seeds heeome forest poeticelly, "eyeloshes." - Photo: laniee l/ei liko heekon. - Photos: Bobby Camam canopies.

Lehuo ore dusters of individuol puo. Tight buds endosed by fuzzy sepals and colored petals slowly unfurl. Eaeh flower hos a sturdy centrol kukuna (female pistil), surrounded by pollen-tipped male pōuleule (stamens).