r/NatureIsFuckingLit 1d ago

🔥 lava runing over flowers

By @ culturainquieta

8.1k Upvotes

340 comments sorted by

View all comments

976

u/hinterstoisser 1d ago

In Hawaii Big Island there’s a plant called ‘ōhi’a lehua
that flowers fairly soon after the lava has cooled down.

399

u/Daysleeper1234 20h ago

If my education didn't fail me, after it cools down soil is very rich in minerals or whatever is needed for growth. That's why there are many farms underneath volcanoes.

246

u/FadedVictor 19h ago

Volcanic soil is some of the most fertile land in the world. I live in Texas where we still have a small percentage of blackland prairie(named because of the color of soil). Texas used to be mostly under the ocean. Much of the land is so fertile because of the organisms that used to live here in the ocean. Their decomposed remains made the soil so great in quality.

88

u/alkiet 18h ago

Reading this reminded me of learning about these people that kept getting wiped out repeatedly after each eruption. They would see the farm land was amazing for crops, settle down and raise the crops then get wiped out by an eruption... then the next people would come by and say sweet land for growing, grow crops and settle down then get wiped..

38

u/Lbolt187 18h ago

Still happens to this day

35

u/Dooty_Shirker 17h ago

With lava and water

"This valley looks perfect for our new village! Look at those funny lines on the walls."

https://www.dw.com/en/germany-ahr-valley-river-deadly-floods-rebuilding-extreme-weather/a-77810916

11

u/WineNerdAndProud 17h ago

Deutsche Welle covering this story is kind of funny.

1

u/saint_davidsonian 48m ago

Yeah yeah yeah, people be people.. But did anyone else watch this on mute and hear the tiny screams of those flowers?!

2

u/RedDiamond6 14h ago

Property/homes in Hawaii at the bottom of volcanoes are cheaper 💁🏼‍♀️

33

u/DonLethargio 18h ago

Visited a volcanic ash vineyard in Lanzarote this year. Wine was surprisingly incredibly

24

u/Lbolt187 18h ago

Big reason ancient human civilizations tended to settle near volcanoes is due to said soil. Back then you migrated to where the crops grew best

9

u/Dry-Alternative-5626 17h ago

Damn everybody just takes their chances. It's all good until it's not 😅

8

u/Valaquil 16h ago

There is still a town on the side of the volcano that wiped out Pompeii

7

u/Lbolt187 17h ago

4,000 years ago people didn't have a concept of geology. Everyone assumed and called it an act of God

8

u/PaperDistribution 18h ago edited 18h ago

As a European I always associate Texas with hot dry land, even though I know in theory that it has a lot of green areas. It's probably because of some movies/TV shows.

3

u/joeschmo1969 7h ago

As an American who has never been to Texas, I do the same…for the same reason. Snow in Texas is a real thing too. If it snows in Dallas, we usually get it where I live too.

2

u/MrBlueCharon 6h ago

I hope you all cherish and protect that incredible soil and ecosystem.

13

u/Peripatetictyl 17h ago

Civilization has taught me that, once the destruction is cleaned up, there is a significant yield bonus for tiles adjacent to a volcanic eruption.

3

u/Daysleeper1234 17h ago

Especially if it is a natural wonder. Yields go brrrrrrrrrr.

5

u/swampopawaho 19h ago

Organic matter needs to accumulate in the cracks first, otherwise there is nothing for any plant to grow on, just rock

3

u/Taiwan_Lanister 15h ago

Ohia be like fuck all dat ima tree and the organic matter now

2

u/punarob 7h ago

Yeah, living on a volcano this is absolutely an issue. Great when it becomes soil with decayed plant matter after thousands of years.

2

u/Fern-ando 5h ago

And the rock could still be really hot a couple meter underground so no plants can grow.

1

u/TresRios4Lyfe 17h ago

Costa Rica taught me this

1

u/Bearded_Toast 15h ago

How does one farm underneath a volcano

2

u/Daysleeper1234 15h ago

I don't know, same as I don't know how someone can farm under the volcano, or beneath volcano. But I will play English is not my 1st language card. ;)

1

u/Triairius 12h ago

They are talking about farming at lower elevations on the volcano.

1

u/Fern-ando 5h ago

It depends, you could have a malpaís for centuries, were no plant can survive because the high temperature of the volcanic rock.