When somebody mentions "Hawaiian plant" what do you think about first?
1. native plants, like 'ohi'a, koa, kopiko, pilo, maile, etc?
2. canoe plants, like kalo, ulu, uala, ki, wauke, ipu, etc.?
3. ornamental plants like bird of paradise, plumeria, ginger?
4. something else?
just wondering. I bet there is a broad range of answers, and maybe a lot of people mix up the plants that are endemic/indigenous, with those that our ancestors brought, and those that were brought in post-contact, but have been hanai'd into the lei or lapa'au practices.
BTW, mahalo nui, e Reimomi, for starting up this Forum Mea Ulu!
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Indeed, Kū, ground-layering of olonā is the primary means of propagation, and expanding existing stands of olonā that were growing in wet gulches was a matter of gradually clearing surrounding vegetation while ground-layering around the perimeter of clearing, so that the stand of olonā gradually grew. Olonā tends to send up new stalks from the main plant anyway, so thinning by removing some of the taller stems for harvesting stimulated additional shoots. On the island of Hawaiʻi, the Amy Greenwell Botanical Gardens grows olonā, and it may be possible to get a plant from them to put in a wet gulch, well-drained soils. It sounds, Charles, that your place might indeed be good for olonā.
I'll be moving back to Waimea soon, but Waimea doesn't really provide the best conditions for growin olona.
Marie McDonald tried growing some maybe 5 or 10 years ago. I don't know how they are doing. I haven't seen her in quite awhile. Maybe I should go visit one of the days.
Anyway, looks like we can have some good discussions in this group.
So I asked my uncle who works with kapa about olona. He said he saw only one man prepare the fiber with a traditional tool which he described as somewhat of an upside down canoe hull with a shell attached to the end.
It would be nice to see that in action.
Just curious if anyone has smelled a hibiscus imaculata in it's native habitat??
I've heard it's fragrant but have none to smell;-)
Instead I have these gorgeous punaluuensis to admire
ʻAe no Molokaʻi kēlā kokiʻo keʻokeʻo Hibiscus immaculatus -- anuhea wale kona onaona. I ka pali o ke koʻolau, ma waena o Wailau a me Pelekunu, i ke alo pali o Olokuʻi, aia kona home. Akā, ua ulu ua pua nei ma ke kīhāpai pua o kuʻu hoaaloha ʻo Wiliama Garnett kona inoa, noho ʻo ia i Kalaʻe.
Yes, that white hibiscus Hibiscus immaculatus is from Molokaʻi -- its really fragrant. On the windward pali, between Wailau and Pelekunu, on the face of the cliffs of Olokuʻi is its home. But it grows in the flower garden of my friend William Garnett, who lives in Kalaʻe.
Great! AWA! Auwe no ho'i e! Ahahahaha! Right on Pauahi! There are so many plants some just slip our minds, eh? One of my tutu used to have his mo'opuna when they were toddlers to chew it to soften it up before he would complete the process. They would drink the awa and pass out for the nigh; get up thirsty, drink water, and fall back into their previous state. Whee-ha!
I forgot to mention the silversword up at Haleakala and the greensword up at Waialeale, on Kaua'i. There is that other fern we called wawae iole. The naupaka by the ocean and the naupaka tree up mauka on the windward side of O'ahu. Hinahina which made a beautiful silvery lei is another.
Did you know that the first travel poster of Hawaii was a beautiful Hawaiian girl wearing a hau blossom. Later they used the hibiscus. I understand that there was a hibicus that is of Hawaii and wasn't brought in from somewhere else. Does anyone know about it?
There are actually several species of Hawaiian hibiscus that are native, and several more Hawaiian plants that are in the hibiscus family, including maʻo (Hawaiian cotton Gossypium) hau kuahiwi (Hibiscadelphus), koʻoloaʻula (Abutilon), kokiʻo (Kokia, an endemic genus), and of course, ʻilima (Sida). The Hawaiian native hibiscus species include kokiʻo keʻokeʻo (the white Hibiscus species, such as H. arnottianus, H. waimeae, and H. immaculatus), kokiʻo ʻula, the red Hibiscus species, including H. st-johnianus, H. clayi, H kokio, our yellow state flower, Hibiscus brackenridgei, called maʻo-hau-hele in Hawaiian. Some people consider hau indigenous. That one is Hibiscus tileaceus.
Mahalo e Tāne, for recounting the traditional practice of having clean-mouthed youngsters chew up the ʻawa for the kūpuna. Uncle Eddie Kaʻanana shared in ʻawa circle a couple years ago that when he was small he was made to chew the ʻawa for elders, that he would chew, and then let the chewed ʻawa slip into the ʻapu from his mouth. ʻAwa is a supremely important Hawaiian plant, and of course holds similarly high status across most of Polynesia, and into Micronesia as well! Also a canoe plant, a Polynesian introduction to Hawaiʻi, so not indigenous in the sense of getting here without help from kanaka.
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Marie McDonald tried growing some maybe 5 or 10 years ago. I don't know how they are doing. I haven't seen her in quite awhile. Maybe I should go visit one of the days.
Anyway, looks like we can have some good discussions in this group.
And I can learn more. We all can learn more.
Mahalo.
It would be nice to see that in action.
Just curious if anyone has smelled a hibiscus imaculata in it's native habitat??
I've heard it's fragrant but have none to smell;-)
Instead I have these gorgeous punaluuensis to admire
aloha,
kaiks
Yes, that white hibiscus Hibiscus immaculatus is from Molokaʻi -- its really fragrant. On the windward pali, between Wailau and Pelekunu, on the face of the cliffs of Olokuʻi is its home. But it grows in the flower garden of my friend William Garnett, who lives in Kalaʻe.
Tane
Did you know that the first travel poster of Hawaii was a beautiful Hawaiian girl wearing a hau blossom. Later they used the hibiscus. I understand that there was a hibicus that is of Hawaii and wasn't brought in from somewhere else. Does anyone know about it?
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