Ōhia Lehua

Metrosideros polymorpha, the ōhia lehua, is a flowering evergreen tree in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, endemic to the six largest islands of Hawaii. It is the state tree of Hawaiʻi. It is a highly variable tree, growing tall in favourable situations and as a much smaller prostrate shrub in boggy soils or directly on basalt. Its flowers are a mass of stamens, usually bright to medium red, though orange-red, salmon, pink, yellow and orange forms are found. 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. Ōhia trees grow easily on lava and are usually the first plants to grow on new lava flows. In native Hawaiian society the hard reddish brown heartwood was used in house and heiau construction, and for poi boards, weapons, tool handles, kapa beaters and statues. In Hawaiian mythology, Ōhia and Lehua were two young lovers.