Here in the cloud forest of Kilauea, native plants have really adapted (away) from their ancestors that were blown over by wind or transported by wings and waves. Ferns have fared well in particular, as there spores seem to be easy to transport over these large distances. Many of the plants in Hawai’i have lost their defense mechanisms because they didn’t have to use them, as their original predators do not exist here. “Use it or lose it” seems to be the mantra, and the examples I have already shown you were the Hawai’ian endemic raspberries, the Ne Akala. In addition to that, there’s nettleness nettle or, like depicted here, the mint less mint.

Mintless mint in Kilauea rainforest