while there are many opinions regarding its origin, there has been, to date, no historical linguistic study of the word to provide convincing evidence for any particular etymology. Mythology In Hawaiian mythology, Ōhia and Lehua were two young lovers. The volcano goddess Pele fell in love with the handsome Ōhia and approached him, but he turned down her advances. In a fit of jealousy, Pele transformed Ōhian into a tree. Lehua was devastated by this transformation and out of pity the other gods turned her into a flower and placed her upon the ōhia tree. Other versions say that Pele felt remorseful but was unable to reverse the change, so she turned Lehua into a flower herself. It is said that when a lehua flower is plucked from an ōhia tree, the sky will fill with rain representing the separated lovers' tears. Notes References Medeiros, A.C., C.F. Davenport, and C.G. Chimera, Auwahi: Ethnobotany of a Hawaiian Dryland Forest. URL:Ethnobotany of Auwahi.pdf, accessed 3 January 2007. Simpson, P., 2005. Pōhutukawa & Rātā: New Zealand's Iron-Hearted Trees. Te Papa Press. 346 pp. Starr, F., K. Starr, and L.L. Loope. New plant records from the Hawaiian Archipelago. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 79:20-30. 'Metrosideros polymorpha (‘ōhi‘a lehua)', Species Profiles for Pacific Island Agroforestry, April 2006, version 3.2. URL:Metrosideros-ohia.pdf, accessed January 1, 2007. External links polymorpha Endemic flora of Hawaii Trees of Hawaii Biota of Hawaii (island) Biota of Kauai Biota of Lanai Biota of Maui Biota of Molokai Biota of Oahu Flora without expected TNC conservation status