Fabaceae Sesbania tomentosa

• Hawaiian name = ohai
• Increasingly rare in the wild (once common)
• Used to make leis
• Nitrogen fixer

Pittosporaceae Pittosporum hosmeri

• Candle Nut Tree
• Common plant
•  Hawaiian translation = "light" because seeds were burned due to high oil content
• Crushing the nuts and spreading them in small ponds helped increase visibility when spear fishing
• Also, roasted and eaten as a dish (inamona), but poisonous if eaten raw
• Oil from nuts treated surfboards by creating a protective coating similar to a stain

Fabaceae Acacia Koa

• Used for massive voyaging and fighting canoes
• Used the elepaio bird to check the health of koa trees (many insects then tree bad)

Malvaceae Hibiscus brackenridgei

• State Flower of Hawaii
•  Only 49 individuals left in the wild on Oahu
• Populations destroyed in 2007 fire
•  Grow on steep cliffs at high elevations
• Federally endangered!

 

—Grow on steep cliffs at high elevations

Nyctaginaceae Pisonia brunoniana

Nyctaginaceae Pisonia sandwicensis

Pittosporaceae Pittosporum argentifolium