Hawaiian lavas, lichens and ferns, 1980

The first plants to colonise new lava fields of the Hawaiian volcanoes are lichens, mosses, ferns and ohelo berry. The basaltic Hawaiian lavas produce fertile soils and rainfall around Kilauea is high. Plants take root in small pockets in the solidified cooled lava where rainwater collects and soil nutrients begin to form. This image shows lichens, mosses, ferns (Polypodium pellucidum) and on the right-hand side ohelo berry (Vaccinium reticulatum Smith), a small, native Hawaiian shrub in the cranberry family, with edible red berries used in jams and jellies.