Lava and vegetation, Hawaii 1980

This image shows the five native Hawaiian plant species which first colonise new lava fields of Kilauea and Mauna Loa volcanoes: lichen, mosses, ferns (Polypodium pellucidum,) ohelo berry (Vaccinium reticulatum Smith) and Ohia lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha ). Ohelo is a small shrub in the cranberry family, with edible red berries used in jams and jellies. Ohia lehua is species of flowering evergreen tree in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, endemic to the islands of Hawaii varying from a small shrub to a 100 foot tree, found in habitats from lowland dry shrub lands to rain forests, from high elevation bogs to dry lava flows. It produces bright red or yellow flowers. Many native Hawaiian traditions refer to Ohia lehua trees and the forests it forms as sacred to Pele, the volcano goddess, and to Laka, the goddess of hula.