Kōlea
Kōlea is one of the plants you'll see on the trail in the native forest almost every time you hike. Sometimes it is hard to identify. It comes in many forms and you can confuse it for other native plants like manono or alani. The large leaf kolea can also be confused with the invasive plan ardisia. One way to identify is the forming of bumps on the stem, mostly the large leaf Kōlea
Background Information
Kōlea is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands and offers many species. The hard part is that many species don't look similar to each other at all which makes identifying this plant a little difficult. It is however a good talking point when hiking as you can interact with the plant by trying to find the bumps on the stem. In Ancient Hawaii, Hawaiians used the plant to make anvils and used the berries as a dye. One characteristic of the plant is that new leaves called liko sprout from the top and have a showstopping pink color. Ohia does the same thing. The shade of pink or purple is a sight to behold in the wild.
Kōlea
This is more of a common Kōlea you'd see on the trail. Kolea occurs in the wet forest on the mountain. The common name is Kōlea Lau Nui also known as the large leaf Kōlea. As you can see in the pictures, the bumps on the stems is a dead give away.
Wow berries, I didn't know
Kōlea
This is the small Kōlea, commonly referred to as Kōlea lau liʻi. As you can see the leaves are small and the new leaves have a pretty purplish color. The scientific name is myrsine sandwicensis. It is common in both the Ko'olau and Waianae Mountain Ranges on Oahu.
Kōlea
This species of Kolea was found on Kauai on the Pihea/Alakai Swamp trail. It is federally listed as endangered. The species name is myrsine petiolata. We saw this early on the hike and it was seen throughout the hike as well. This doesn't look like a normal Kōlea plant, the leaves are skinny and there is a slight purplish tinge in the middle.
Kōlea
Here is a rare Kōlea. It is listed on the federally endangered species as vulnerable. It occurs only on Oahu and usually on the summit line. More specifically, it occurs only the Ko'olau Mountain Range. There is a huge patch somewhere on the KST after Pu'u O Kona. The scientific name is myrsine fosbergii. As you can see it doesn't look like other Kōlea, the leaves are skinny and there is a stalk coming from the top with two leaves coming out. There is no pink color as well.
Kōlea
I'm not sure the name of this Kōlea. It could be myrsine lessertiana? It was observed on the Pihea/Alaka'i Swamp trail on Kauai. It definitely looks like Kōlea. But with pictures it can be hard to tell, you really have to sit down and look at the plant in its environment to get the true idea of what is going on.
Source:
- Hawaiian Plant Life, 140
- Flowering Plants of Hawaii, 934-947
- IUCN Red List