 Poorly draining acidic soil leaches of nutrients, rainfall that exceeds , cooler temperatures and high winds have resulted in a bog where the canopy has been reduced to plants that are only inches above the ground.Typical forest canopy trees such as "ōhia lehua" ("Metrosideros polymorpha") and "ōlapa" ("Cheirodendron trigynum") can be found as groundcover, crawling along the surface.Pēpēōpae bog is home to several endemic and endangered plant and animal species, including the Hawaii bog violet ("Viola maviensis"), "alani" ("Melicope" spp.