Ohia lehua tree, Hawaii 2005

This image shows a small Ohia lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha ) bush on the solidifed lava lake of Kilauea Iki, part of the Kilauea volcano caldera. 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.