ʻŌhiʻa Lehua

Metrosideros polymorpha, the ʻōhiʻa lehua, is a species of flowering evergreen tree in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, that is endemic to the six largest islands of Hawaiʻi. It is a member of the diverse Metrosideros genus, which are widespread over the southwest Pacific. It is the state tree of Hawaiʻi.

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, although ʻōhiʻa is also used to refer to the tomato as well as certain varieties of sugarcane and taro. There is a widespread but mistaken notion that the Hawaiian word ʻōhiʻa refers only to the tree and that the word lehua refers only to its flowers.