HONOLULU (AP) – In years past, hula students would make pilgrimages into ohia forests on Hawaii’s Big Island to gather blossoms and leaves from the trees to adorn dancers’ lei, hair, hands and feet for the world’s most prestigious hula competition.
They would also pay respects to Laka, the goddess of hula, and seek inspiration.
But at this year’s upcoming Merrie Monarch Festival, the red and yellow blossoms that normally adorn dancers will be missing.
That’s because many competitors are heeding calls to avoid the flowers so they don’t spread a fungus that’s killing the tress that grow them. Scientists are worried what’s known as rapid ohia death will wipe out the backbone of Hawaii’s native forests and watersheds – the islands’ source of fresh water.
“It doesn’t grow anywhere else in world,” said Sam Ohu Gon III, senior scientist and cultural adviser for the Nature Conservancy of Hawaii. “If it goes extinct here, that’s it globally. It’s gone.”