Metrosideros polymorpha

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

ʻŌhiʻa lehua
ʻŌhiʻa lehua flowers
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Metrosideros
Species:
M. polymorpha
Binomial name
Metrosideros polymorpha
Varieties[2]

M. p. var. dieteri
M. p. var. glaberrima
M. p. var. incana
M. p. var. macrophylla
M. p. var. newelli
M. p. var. polymorpha
M. p. var. pumila
M. p. var. pseudorugosa

Synonyms[3]
List
    • Metrosideros collina f. lurida rock
    • Metrosideros collina f. sericea Rock
    • Metrosideros collina f. strigosa Rock
    • Metrosideros collina subsp. polymorpha (Gaudich.) Rock
    • Metrosideros collina var. glaberrima (H.Lév.) Rock
    • Metrosideros collina var. glabrifolia (A.Heller) Rock
    • Metrosideros collina var. haleakalesis Rock
    • Metrosideros collina var. hemilanata Hochr.
    • Metrosideros collina var. imbricata Rock
    • Metrosideros collina var. incana (H.Lév.) Rock
    • Metrosideros collina var. macrophylla Rock
    • Metrosideros collina var. newellii Rock
    • Metrosideros collina var. prostrata Rock
    • Metrosideros collina var. pumila (A.Heller) Rock
    • Metrosideros hillebrandii H.Lév. & Vaniot
    • Metrosideros pumila (A.Heller) Hochr.
    • Nania glabrifolia A.Heller
    • Nania polymorpha (Gaudich.) A.Heller
    • Nania pumila A.Heller

Metrosideros polymorpha, the ʻōhiʻa lehua,

southwest Pacific. It is the state tree of Hawai‘i.[5]

It is a highly variable tree, being 20–25 m (66–82 ft) tall in favorable situations, and a much smaller prostrate shrub when growing in boggy soils or directly on basalt. It produces a brilliant display of flowers, made up of a mass of stamens, which can range from fiery red to yellow. Many native Hawaiian traditions refer to the tree and the forests it forms as sacred to Pele, the volcano goddess, and to Laka, the goddess of hula. ʻŌhiʻa trees grow easily on lava, and are usually the first plants to grow on new lava flows.

Metrosideros polymorpha is commonly called a lehua tree, or an ʻōhiʻa lehua, or simply an ʻōhiʻa; all are correct,[6] although ʻōhiʻa is also used to refer to the tomato as well as certain varieties of sugarcane and taro.[7] There is a widespread but mistaken notion that the Hawaiʻian word ʻōhiʻa only refers to the tree and that the word lehua only refers to its flowers.

Distribution

Metrosideros polymorpha is the most common native tree in the Hawaiian Islands, tolerating a wide range of soil conditions, temperature, and rainfall. It grows from sea level right up to the tree line at elevations of 2,500 m (8,200 ft) and is commonly found in moist and dry forests, high shrublands, and is a colonizer of recent lava flows. It is relatively slow growing. Dominant in cloud forests above 400 m (1,300 ft), the tree is also common in seasonally wet forests, where it may be dominant or form mixtures with the native Acacia koa.

Habitat

Yellow variant of the plant's flowers

Metrosideros polymorpha may occur as a tall

Podsol, Oxisol, Ultisol, or Alfisol. Rainfall of 1,000–3,000 mm (39–118 in) per year is favored, but ʻōhiʻa can grow in dry forests that receive as little as 400 mm (16 in) or bogs that get more than 10,000 mm (390 in) of rain.[2]

On moist, deep soils, ʻōhiʻa grows to 20–25 m (66–82 ft) high. Specimens reaching 30 m (98 ft) high are on record. The trunk varies in form. In some trees, it is straight and smooth; in others, it is twisted and prominently fluted. Trees growing in forests often have

stomata of the leaves are able to close up in the presence of harmful gases, which gives it an advantage over many non-native trees.[8]

Uses

Lehua blossoms (ʻōhiʻa lehua), Hawaiʻi

The reddish brown

medicinally to treat pain experienced during childbirth.[11]

ʻŌhiʻa lehua is one of the few honey plants that is native to the Hawaiian Islands.[2][12]

Similar species

There are about 50 species in the genus

Pacific and as well one species in South Africa. The Hawaiian Islands are home to five species of Metrosideros that are endemic to the islands, meaning they are found nowhere else in the world. These are: Metrosideros polymorpha, M. macropus, M. rugosa, M. tremuloides, and M. waialealae. The species are readily distinguished from one another by the characteristics of their leaves.[6]

Metrosideros kermadecensis, from the Kermadec Islands north of New Zealand, has recently become naturalized on Maui and may become a pest species. Several cultivars of M. excelsa, the pohutukawa tree of New Zealand, have been sometimes planted as ornamentals in Hawaiʻi but are not reported to have naturalized. Metrosideros polymorpha was originally classified as a variety of M. collina, native to Rarotonga, Tahiti, and other islands of Polynesia, but now is generally accepted as a distinct Hawaiian endemic species.

Conservation

pahoehoe flows from Kīlauea at Kalapana, Hawaii
.

Metrosideros polymorpha forests in Hawaiʻi have been invaded by myriad alien species. In the

Pennisetum setaceum
).

Rapid ʻōhiʻa death

Main article: Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death
Metrosideros polymorpha flowering, Alaka'i swamp in Kaua'i.

More recently, a strain of fungus initially identified as

ʻakekeʻe (Loxops caeruleirostris) and longhorn beetles in the genus Plagithmysus
have become endangered due to forest areas shrinking.

In April 2018, the cause of rapid ʻōhiʻa death was identified as two species of Ceratocystis previously unknown to science: C. huliohia and C. lukuohia.[14] By May 2018, infected ʻōhiʻa trees were found on the island of Kauai, prompting requests that members of the public limit transportation of ʻōhiʻa products within the island.[15]

In 2022, to assist in slowing, and hopefully ending, Rapid ʻōhiʻa Death, the ʻōhiʻa became the

state tree of Hawaii thanks to a bill signed into law by Governor David Ige.[5]

Etymology

It is a common misconception that the word ʻōhiʻa is used to refer to the tree and that the word lehua refers only to its flowers. The Hawaiian Dictionary[16] describes lehua with these words:

"The flower of the ʻōhiʻa tree ... also the tree itself" [emphasis added].

Thus endorsing the common practice of referring to Metrosideros polymorpha as a lehua tree, or as an ʻōhiʻa lehua, or simply an ʻōhiʻa.[6]

The genus name Metrosideros is derived from the Greek words metra, meaning 'heartwood', and sideron, meaning 'iron', and refers to the hard wood of the trees in this genus. The specific epithet polymorpha, meaning 'many forms', is very appropriate, since individuals of this species exhibit many different morphologies and inhabit a broad range of ecological situations.[6] The Hawaiian language word ʻōhiʻa is thought to have been derived from the ancestral Proto-Oceanic word, *kafika.[17] Throughout Oceania, there are many similar-sounding words that were also derived from the same ancestral protoform and, in most cases, they are names for the "mountain apple", or "Malay apple" tree, Syzygium malaccense. In the Hawaiian Islands, however, the word ʻōhiʻa is not only used to refer to Syzygium malaccense, but also to other species of Syzygium and Metrosideros that occur there.[6]

The derivation of the word lehua is more obscure, and while there are many opinions regarding its origin, there has been, to date, no historical linguistic study of the word to provide convincing evidence for any particular etymology.[citation needed]

Mythology

In

Hawaiian mythology, ʻŌhiʻa and Lehua were two young lovers. The volcano goddess Pele fell in love with the handsome ʻŌhiʻa and approached him, but he turned down her advances. In a fit of jealousy, Pele transformed ʻŌhiʻa into a tree. Lehua was devastated by this transformation and out of pity the other gods turned her into a flower and placed her upon the ʻōhiʻa tree.[18] Other versions say that Pele felt remorseful but was unable to reverse the change, so she turned Lehua into a flower herself.[19] It is said that when a lehua flower is plucked from an ʻōhiʻa tree, the sky will fill with rain representing the separated lovers' tears.[20]

References

  1. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T62779A103803370.en
    . Retrieved 19 March 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d Friday, J.B.; Herbert, Darrell A. (April 2006). Metrosideros polymorpha (ʻōhiʻa lehua) (PDF) (Report). The Traditional Tree Initiative.
  3. ^ "World Checklist of Selected Plant Families".
  4. University of Hawaii Press
    .
  5. ^ a b "05/24/22 – IT'S OFFICIAL! ʻŌHIʻA LEHUA BECOMES HAWAI'I STATE ENDEMIC TREE". Department of Land and Natural Resources. 24 May 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  6. ^
    ISBN 9780824821661
    .
  7. ^ "Combined Hawaiian Dictionary: ʻōhiʻa". trussel2.com.
  8. ^ "Trees". Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. National Park Service. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  9. ^ Allen, James A. (2003). Metrosideros polymorpha Gaudich (PDF) (Report). Reforestation, Nurseries and Genetics Resources. Archived from the original on 19 May 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  10. University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
    .
  11. Bernice P. Bishop Museum
    . Retrieved 23 February 2009.
  12. ^ Roddy, Kevin M.; Arita-Tsutsumi, Lorna (1997). "A history of honeybees in the Hawaiian Islands" (PDF). Journal of Hawaiian and Pacific Agriculture. 8: 61.
  13. ^ "Rapid ʻōhiʻa death". College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. University of Hawaii. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  14. ^ "Two new species of fungi that kill ʻōhiʻa trees get Hawaiian names". University of Hawaiʻi System News. 17 April 2018. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  15. ^ "ʻOhiʻa fungus found on Kauai". Breaking news. Honolulu Star-Advertiser. 11 May 2018. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  16. ^ Pukui; Elbert (1986). "lehua". The Hawaiian Dictionary. p. 199.
  17. ^ "Pollex Online". pollex.shh.mpg.de. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  18. ^ "Pele's Revenge: A Hawaii legend from Native American folklore". Archived from the original on 9 June 2009. Retrieved 21 July 2009.
  19. ^ "Pele: Goddess of the Volcano (Hawaii)". www.goddessgift.com. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  20. ^ "ʻŌhiʻa". Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. U.S. National Park Service. Retrieved 26 January 2021.

Sources

  • Medeiros, A.C.; Davenport, C.F.; Chimera, C.G. (14 April 2003). Auwahi: Ethnobotany of a Hawaiian Dryland Forest (PDF) (Report). Ethnobotany of Auwahi (published 28 October 2009). Retrieved 3 January 2007.
  • Simpson, P. (2005). Pōhutukawa & Rātā: New Zealand's iron-hearted trees. Te Papa Press.
  • Starr, F.; Starr, K.; Loope, L.L. (27 July 2004). "New plant records from the Hawaiian Archipelago". In Evenhuis, Neal L.; Eldredge, Lucius G. (eds.). Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2004 – Part 2 (Report). Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. Vol. 79. Honolulu, HI: Bishop Museum Press. pp. 20–30.
  • Metrosideros polymorpha (ʻōhiʻa lehua) (PDF) (Report). Species Profiles for Pacific Island Agroforestry. April 2006. version 3.2. Retrieved 1 January 2007.

External links

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