Argemone glauca, or Pua kala, is one of the prickly poppies (family Papaveraceae) and is endemic the Hawaiian islands where it exists at many altitudes. A. glauca (named for the glaucous = gray green/blue leaves) produces a classic white flower with yellow center and has spiny leaves which along with toxic alkaloids deter herbivores from grazing. While not possessing the opioids for which poppies may be best known, the alkaloids Pua kala possesses made it useful to native Hawaiians for treating various medical conditions such as ulcers, toothaches, and warts.
Like its mainland counterparts, A. glauca prefers fairly dry habitats, doing well in places with little rainfall. Though native to only north and south America, various species of Argemone have been introduced throughout the world, including different species though within the native range of the genus. Argemone mexicana is a fairly close relative of A. glauca and has been introduced to the Hawaiian islands, benefiting from adaptation to similar environments.
Viola chamissoniana is a member of the violet family known as ‘olopu in and endemic to Hawaii where it is found on several of the islands in the chain. The subspecies native to Oahu is a federally-listed endangered species, largely as a result of the grazing of introduced feral goats and pigs which pose a threat to many other Hawaiian endemics. Introduced herbivores are far from the only threat as introduced plants such as Ageratina adenophora pose troublesome competition from a plant I’ve also seen growing wild and introduced here in California. While human development is one of the leading causes of species endangerment and habitat loss, it is clear that secondary effects, even centuries down the line, continue to ravage natural ecosystems.
A less dour fact about Violas is that they usually have two types of flowers borne in different times of year. The flowers we appreciate are known as chasmogamous – showy things designed to attract the attention of would-be pollinators and incidentally us as well. This promotes cross-pollination and in Violaoften results in a seed pod which explodes, propelling diversified seeds to colonize surrounding areas. There are also sneaky flowers which are almost never seen, hunkering close to the base of the plant or even underground. These flowers are cleistogamous and are self-pollinating. The fruit containing these seeds instead dumps them close to the parent plant as the offspring are more likely to have a similar genetic makeup which allows them to thrive in the same conditions.
Thanks to Hui Ku Maoli Ola for lending me this plant as a subject along with the others!
Gossypium tomentosum, Ma’o, or Hawaiian cotton, is an another endemic member of the mallow family (Malvaceae). It is grown as a small shrub, a groundcover, and is enjoyed for its silky flowers and silvery leaves. Sadly, like many of the other Hawaiian plants I’ve been sharing, it is endangered and has been extirpated from at least one of the Hawaiian islands largely as a result of continued coastal development.
Besides the loss of beauty, variety, and ecological diversity, the extinction of a species always has potential to make lost traits which would have perhaps more conventional value. This cotton illustrates this as even while its population continues to decline, its genes persist in commercial cotton crops after being bred with them to confer enhanced insect and pathogen resistance. While for some the abstract consequences of extinction have no impact, there remain more concrete losses which should leave any person concerned.
Achyranthes splendens (Ahinahina in Hawaiian) is an endangered Hawaiian endemic plant in the same family as amaranth. This species occurs only on the Hawaiian islands, growing at low to moderate altitudes typically along western and southern coasts in relatively dry habitats. While the inflorescence I had to photograph is missing flowers (they fall off pretty rapidly and easily) the flowers when blooming are light green and barely distinct from the rest of the inflorescence without quite close inspection. They are not as much appreciated for the flowers as they are for the beautiful tomentose foliage which presents a shifting metallic sheen overlaying the green leaf tissue. Sadly, like many Hawaiian plants, this easily-grown species is still threatened by habitat loss, and with its decreasing population may follow in the steps of its relative Achyranthes atollensis which was made extinct through civilian and military development in 1964.
Hibiscus tiliaceus is a widespread member of the mallow family commonly found by beaches as its many sea-inclusive common names suggest. Native through Oceania and South Asia, the plant has now become naturalized throughout he world, including the tropical Americas. There is some dispute about whether it is truly a Hawaiian native plant or whether it was introduced by early settlers who used the plant extensively for its buoyant wood. It also provides fiber from which ropes were made, corky bark which sealed cracks, and parts of the plant can be used to treat fevers and as food. The Hawaiian name for it, hau, appears quite often in contemporary naming for businesses and streets.
H. tiliaceus is one of the very few [sort of] native plants I was able to find and recognize among all the multitudes of introduced species. It was growing alongside a large Thespesia populnea, Ipomea pes-caprae, I. obscura, Abutilon grandifolium, and quite a few clumps of Vitex rotundifolia. It is certainly possible that being close to a coastal rode, the plants were deliberately placed, but even if so, the choice of using natives is to be commended.
The pollen from this species was especially bright, and upon reviewing my photos at full size, I could not only make out the shape of the pollen, but a pronounced contrast of some on the stigma. Where many have the fluorescent coloration and intensity of fresh pollen from the anthers, quite a few are dimmer and blue rather than green. I have two guesses about this. My first thought is that the blue pollen are hollow shells – just the capsule left behind after germination. My second thought is that they are pollen grains from a different species.
If anyone has any insight into which is more likely, I’d love to hear your thoughts as this is something that has been often on my mind for the last 6 months!
Capparis sandwichiana, the Hawaiian Caper, or maiapilo, is a sprawling, low-growing shrub which inhabits only the Hawaiian islands in coastal and near-coastal ranges. It shares its genus with Capparis spinosa which is commonly used in Mediterranean cooking and shares some traits such as a preference for little water which might be surprising when hearing it is endemic to these tropical islands. The white flowers are fragrant and quite large, serving as nectar source for Manduca blackburni and a forage source for larval Plutella capparidis moths,both of which are also endemic Hawaiian species. The plant is threatened in the wild, which should come as no surprise knowing it’s from the coastal regions and after the information I posted about all the other Hawaiian flora so far.
Curiously, while many plants are given scientific names after people (often European naturalists), others’ names give a description of the plant or its origin. Capparis sandwichiana straddles these two potentials, being named for the location (“The Sandwich Islands”), which were in turn named that by James Cook, a British explorer. I am not the most passionate about plant naming conventions being actually useful, but the surfeit of plants with variations of “sandwich” as epithets is sort of absurd and stupid. While recognizing the value of the taxonomic system to categorize and make distinct species, I think it would be both practical and honorable to integrate native names instead of using monotonous species names such as “sandwichensis” or individuals’ names, for example this plant could be Capparis maiapilo instead. The first flower I posted in this series is actually a good example of it with a taxonomic name of Hibiscus kokio while the Hawaiian name is Kokiʻo.
Anyway, enough of that! I hope you enjoy this plant as much as I did. Many thanks to Tim K from the Lyon Aboretum for giving me some cuttings from his personal garden in order to document this species.
Everybody wanna be a kanaka but nobody wanna be a kanaka.
@ all the non-Hawaiians who wanna go Kamehameha schools and want Hawaiian homestead land but ignore the oppression that brought the need for these things
Speaking of Hawaiian mythology, here’s a very early development sketch for a piece bringing some Hawaiian characters and stories to the foreground. The character is Chief Ka’ena from the legend of Ka’ena Point.
“On the northwestern coast of Oahu is a point of land called Ka'ena Point. Nearby is a huge boulder known as Pohaku o Kauai, or Rock of Kauai. Legend has it that both of these landmarks came to be because of the actions of one man on a dark, stormy night many years ago.
On this night, when the wind raged, lightning struck, thunder rumbled and the rain beat down from the heavens upon the islands of Hawaii, a baby boy was born. The storm was so vicious that the unrelenting rain that fell from the black clouds washed the red soil down through the valleys and soon the flooded streams and thundering waterfalls churned as red as blood.
As the storm raged on, a rainbow appeared above the house in which the baby was born. It was still there the next day when the storm died down, the sky cleared and the sun came out. It was thought that the child was special, and that rainbow was a sign of his power.
The boy was named Haupu. He displayed incredible strength at an early age and eventually grew to be a brave and powerful warrior. He was known throughout the islands – respected for his amazing strength, but feared for his quick temper.
One night, Ka'ena, an Oahu chief, organised a night-fishing expedition. He gathered many people from the village and they set out in canoes of all sizes, with torches and their largest fishing nets.
This same night, Haupa was sleeping in his royal home on Kauai, some 30 miles (48 km) from Oahu. He awoke to strange noises out on the water, and when he looked out he saw faraway lights dancing in the black distance. Half asleep, Huapu imagined a group of warriors coming from Oahu to attack his people, and so he rushed to the edge of a nearby cliff, heaved up a huge boulder and flung it out across the channel between the two islands.
The canoes were smashed and shattered into tiny pieces, and chief Ka'ena, who stood proudly in the middle of his people, lost his life along with many of the fishermen. The boulder hit the water with such force that the resulting waves washed huge amounts of sand onto the shore, forming a point of land.
The survivors of the disastrous fishing expedition made their way back to the shore of Oahu, and thereafter named the cape “Ka'ena” after their fallen chief. The boulder, they named the Rock of Kauai.”
These upcoming designs will be pretty close to me as I’m part Hawaiian and grew up with a lot of these stories as a kid.
I would like to thank Chris Evans and Jason Momoa for ruining my life with their handsome faces and absurdly attractive bodies in their amazing velvet suits tonight.
