MEET THE PIONEERS!

There aren't many places on Earth where life gets a clean slate to start all over but Kilauea Volcano is one of them. Here vast areas of land are covered by recent lava flows of varying ages. It's a fascinating place to study how pioneer species take hold in a very harsh climate.

Yellow Lehua - Photo: Kim and Forest Starr

Hawai'i Island is estimated to be only about 500,000 years old. Pretty much a youngster, even in Hawaiian terms, when you consider Maui is 1.3 million years old and Kaua'i is a ripe old 5-6 million.

On the southern slopes of Kilauea you can find some of the island chain's newest land, some of which is not even completely cooled!  It's amazing that anything can survive on the lava flows, but survive it does, and it's a pattern that has repeated over and over through the millennia on each and every island in the chain. Every majestic Hawaiian forest began in just this way.

Here are a few of the trailblazers, the rugged pioneers, the leading edge of the green blanket of life that becomes the forest. When you find them on the lava it's like a look into the island's distant past.



Stereocaulon vulcani 
"Hawaiian Snow" Lichen

Close up of S. vulcani - Photo: Cindy Fontane

This frosty colored lichen is so named because it resembles a dusting of snow on bare lava flows. It's most often found on 'a'a and can appear within just a few years of cooling.

This rugged plant can survive the extreme sunlight and heat of the bare, dark colored rock because its light color reflects light and heat very well.

Seeds of other species can survive and germinate in the microclimate provided by this lichen. It has also been shown to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere, adding precious nutrients to young soils.



Polypodyium pellucidum var. vulcanicum
'Ae Fern

This amazing fern is one of the first colonizers of new lava flows. Its tiny spores, blown by the wind, can endure harsh temperatures and dryness for long periods before it finds an opportune place to begin growing.

'Ae ferns on 3 year old lava flow

The 'ae takes advantage of the smallest bit of shade and shelter found in cracks and fissures to take hold where there is not even any soil.

Ferns are well represented in the native flora of Hawai'i because their tiny, tough spores can resist extreme cold and heat to travel around the globe on high altitude air currents, which occasionally deposited them here.



Metrosideros polymorpha
'Ohi'a lehua

A young 'ohi'a on the 1990 flow

This amazing and highly adaptive endemic tree can be found from sea level up to the tree line on all the main Hawaiian Islands. The tiny seeds of its ancestor may have arrived from New Zealand or the Marquesas on high altitude air currents millions of years ago. 

'Ohi'as are responsible for most of the organic soil found in newer Hawaiian forests as their fallen leaves break down around them. If you look around the base of these remarkable trees you'll see a lot more plants growing than in the surrounding bare lava. The trees offer shelter from the sun and drying winds, and a steady stream of nutrients as their fallen leaves decay.

The beautiful lehua blossoms also provide an important source of shelter and food for native birds, many of which are nectarivores. 

Hi'iakaikapoliopele - Illustration: Solomon Enos

In Hawaiian mythology, Pele's youngest sister, Hi'iakaikapoliopele wears a magical skirt made of fern fronds. In many stories, after Pele covers land with lava in fits of rage, Hi'iaka appears and makes it green again. She lives amongst the many ferns in groves of 'ohi'a lehua, which are sacred to her. Here on the southern slopes of Kilauea we can witness this dramatic cycle beginning again.

I just love this illustration of her by Solomon Enos on the cover of the ancient epic Ka Mo'olelo o Hi'iakaikapoliopele originally written down by Ho'oulumahiehie.

 

You can meet these and other exciting plants with equally sparkling personalities on our Lava, Wine and Stars Tour. 

For reservations click HERE

Until next time - Aloha!