Nate’s Adventures: ‘Ōhi‘a ai in Bloom

By Nate Yuen | Reading time: 1.5 minutes

Now is the season for ʻōhiʻa ai -- mountain apples -- to bloom along Hawaiʻi’s waterfalls, streams and valleys, where they develop over the next few months into delicious red fruits for summer.

ʻŌhiʻa ai -- Syzygium malaccense -- is a Polynesian introduction, brought to Hawaiʻi for its fruits, wood, and use in laʻau lapaʻau -- Hawaiian herbal medicine. “Ai” means “eat” in Hawaiian. ʻŌhiʻa ai -- Syzygium malaccense – is ʻōhiʻa you can eat.  The ʻōhiʻa that is endemic to Hawaiʻi – Metrosideros polymorpha – does not produce edible fruit.

The red-pink color of the flowers of mountain apples -- ʻōhiʻa ai -- is a sight to see. .

When the trees drop the flower stamens, the ground is carpeted in red.

A melika -- honey bee -- visits the red-pink flowers of ʻōhiʻa ai -- mountain apple -- covered with rain drops. Kawaikoʻolihilihiokalehua -- the dew that settles/sparkles on lehua flowers.

ʻŌhiʻa ai was used in traditional Hawaiian medicines. When mashed or chewed, the bark of this tree was taken for sore throats. Bark liquid, combined with salt was used to heal cuts. The wood of ʻōhiʻa ai was considered sacred and was carved into kiʻi, ceremonial images.

There is also a rare white form of mountain apple known as ʻōhiʻa kea. The ground beneath becomes carpeted with white stamens when the tree blooms.

One of the fascinating thing about ʻōhiʻa ai is that the flowers often sprout from a branches on the tree, rather than on the tips of branches.

The number of stamens on each flower of ʻōhiʻa kea -- Syzygium malaccense – is considerably more than ʻōhiʻa lehua -- Metrosideros polymorpha. Now is the time to see mountain apple trees in bloom.