Friday, December 11, 2015

Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death



We are truly blessed to have dozens and dozens of 'Ōhi'a Lehua trees (Metrosideros polymorpha) on our property. Their appearance is truly spectacular and they are one of the defining tree species in Hawai‘i.

Unfortunately, the tree species is being threatened by a fungus called Ceratocytis fimbriata. At this point there is no cure available and the fungus is spreading rapidly being recently confirmed on the west-side of the Big Island. Ultimately, it may threaten to extinguish 'Ōhi'a Lehua from the islands.

So far, the fungus has not been detected in the Kaloko area. Let's keep fingers crossed!

An excellent information resource with updates is available at: http://www.rapidohiadeath.org/



In the process of informing myself about the fungus and its implication, I highly enjoyed the following video presentation (From Sep 29, 2015) from the National Park Service:

Rapid ‘Ohi‘a Death: A House on Fire
http://www.nps.gov/media/video/view.htm?id=A59E17D6-EE8E-5BB3-22D3934B0B66F3D3

A few more tidbits of information are also available from this slightly more recent presentation "NF Hawaii: Solving Rapid 'Ohi'a Death" (Dec 10, 2015):



Also, you can get more information via Facebook as well: https://www.facebook.com/RapidOhiaDeath