City - Kiauea State - HAWAII Country - United States
About
This Hawaiian native flowering plant is the 'Ohi'a tree. I found this scattered in the grassland surrounding Mt. Kilauea on the Big Island. It produces beautiful, somewhat saturated, red blossoms, called Lehua. The tree and flower are named for two Hawaiian lovers. Pele, the goddess of fire, wished to marry 'Ohi'a, a handsome young warrior. When he declined her proposal she lost her temper and turned him into a tree. Lehua, 'Ohi'a's true love, begged the gods to return 'Ohi'a to his human form. They could not. They did turn Lehua into a beautiful blossom and placed it on the 'Ohi'a tree, thus reuniting the two lovers. Today acording to legend, when you pick a Lehua blossom it will rain, because you are separating 'Ohi'a and Lehua.
Thank you very much, Joe. I'm glad you liked it. Took me awhile to find out what kind of plant this was, but thanks to the internet, it wasn't that difficult to find it along with some add'l information. The Hawaiian folklore, much like Native American Indian folklore, really fascinates me.
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