More Articles
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- June 2007
- April 2007
Red Macropus on the Kapalama Loop Trail
Posted: May 28, 2009
With only a few hours to spare, I decided to hike part way up the Kapalama Loop Trail to see whether shrubs of Metrosideros macropus – a species of ohia lehua that grows along the trail — were in bloom.
Metrosideros macropus is one of the five species that make up ohia lehua. Ohia lehua is endemic to the larger Hawaiian Islands (Big Island, Maui, Oahu, Molokai and Lanai) and is central to the stories and hula of old Hawaii. Red is most common flower color of by far the most numerous ohia lehua species — Metrosideros polymorpha. These vibrant red flowers are scared to Pele — goddess of fire and volcanoes, and her favorite sister Hiiaka.
The above photo is of red polymorpha flowers. The flowers form a pom-pom shape and their leaves form a geometric pattern — a rosette. Yellow polymorpha flowers are much less common and were reserved for the ali’i (ruling chiefs) in old Hawaii. Orange polymorpha flowers are even rarer.
The vast majority of macropus flowers, on the other hand, are yellow. All of the specimens I have seen on Aiea Ridge, Waimano, Manana, and Konahuanui are yellow. One of the unique things about macropus is that it is endemic only to the island of Oahu. For several years now I have been looking for red macropus.
Color aside, the flowers of polymorpha and marcopus look the same — they both have pom-pom shaped blossoms that are actually a cluster of flowers with elongated stamens and pistils. It is their leaves that are very different. Macropus leaves are much larger, broader and have longer leaf stems which prevent their leaves from forming rosettes. In the photo above macropus leaves are in the foreground and polymorpha leaves are in the back.
But perhaps the most distinctive feature of macropus is that there are extra leafy structures growing within its foliage. Note the unusual curly leafy growths that emanate from the stem in the photo above.
These leafy structures are the remnants of bud sheaths that once covered its young leaves as they budded from the stem. But rather than falling off once their function has been fulfilled, they continue to grow on the plant well after the leaves have matured.
When I hiked on the Kapalama Loop Trail to reach the summit of Lanihuli last year, I saw several macropus shrubs growing in a native forest of koa trees and uluhe ferns. Although they were not in bloom at that time, I suspected their flowers might be red because their leaves and stems had a reddish tinge.
Sure enough, when I returned to see them this year, I was thrilled to see that their flowers were indeed red. These red macropus shrubs grow right alongside the trail next to a grove of cook island pine trees on the edge of Nuuanu Valley.
This is my first sigthing of red macropus flowers, which confirms what Wagner’s Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawai’i says about macropus — flowers yellow ocasionally red. Now if I could only confirm the existence of lehua pua kea, the white lehua, or ohia laka, the legendary tree that bore red and white flowers. The quest continues.
–
SOURCES
Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawai’i, Wagner & Sohmer, Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum
Metrosideros Polymorpha, Wikipedia
One of the reasons I did Lanihuli last week was to see m. macropus in red. I was rewarded with several diffent trees which were bloom. What I found interesting is that the tell-tale coloration on the petiole was very pronounced on some trees and not as pronounced on others of the red flowered variety.
It’s strange that these red flowering macropus seem fairly concentrated in this area and I’ve never seen one elsewhere.
Have you ever come across a Hawaiian name for this one?
There is indeed a wide variation in the amount of tell-tale color in the petiole. I have been told that yellow is THE color of macropus and that plants with red flowers are actually hybrids. I have not come across a Hawaiian name specific to macropus.