Hosmer's Grove

[1] The grove is well known amongst birdwatchers due to the abundance of endemic honeycreepers at the site, including Iiwi, Apapane, Hawaii Amakihi, and the Maui Alauahio.

Hawaii's first territorial forester, Ralph Hosmer, imported tree species from around the world in hopes of creating a viable timber industry.

Only 20 of the 86 species introduced survived: those with shallow roots were blown down in storms, others found the soil chemistry or fungi unsuitable for growth or reproduction.

Haleakala National Park was established in 1916 to preserve the native flora and fauna and the outstanding geological resources found within the summit's crater-like depression.

Today the park's resource managers are reclaiming remnants of the native shrubland around Hosmer Grove by removing thousands of invasive trees and grasses.

Without the removal of adult seed-bearing plants and their rapidly spreading seedlings, an alien forest would soon overrun the native shrubland between here and the crater, thereby erasing a fragile Hawaiian ecosystem that has taken millions of years to develop.

He experimented with 86 species of trees on Maui, such as eucalyptus, hoping to improve the watershed, and provide building lumber and fuel for the sugar refineries.

Overlook - As you sit amid the 'iliahi (Santalum haleakalae) and other native shrubs, notice how each has evolved ways of withstanding the often intense conditions on the mountain.

Its silver, slightly tomentose (hairy) leaves protect it from the relentless sun, wind, and extreme temperatures found near the summit.

Biodiversity - The native shrublands support a large diversity of life, unlike the understory of this pine and eucalyptus forest.

The larger 'ohia (Metrosideros polymorpha), koa, and olapa are still found in remote gulches, but covered much of the lower mountainside just a century ago.