LEGEND OF THE OHIA LEHUA

I heard this story from: Our Jack's Tours bus driver, Uncle Loren

Once there was a handsome man named 'Ohi'a. 'Ohi'a met a beautiful lady named Lehua, they were boyfriend and girlfriend. One day 'Ohi'a passed by Pele the goddess of fire. Pele immediately fell in love with him so she said, "I like you, be my boyfriend," but 'Ohi'a told Pele that he had already had a girlfriend named Lehua. Pele was mad that he wasn't her boyfriend, so she set a spell on him and turned him into an ugly tree.

When Lehua found out about this, she begged Pele to turn him back into human form again, but Pele didn't turn him back so Lehua went to the gods and asked them if they could turn 'Ohi'a back into human form but the gods said that they couldn't turn him back. Instead, they turned Lehua into a beautiful red flower and put her on the ugly tree that was 'Ohi'a so they could be together.

Today acording to legend, when you pick a lehua blossom it will rain, because you are separating 'Ohi'a and Lehua.

You can find the 'Ohi'a Lehua at the mountain (UKA). The 'Ohi'a Lehua looks like a fluffy red flower on a really crooked, twisted tree.