Plants of Hawai’i in Our Yard

We moved into our house at the beginning of May 2008.  It is our first home purchase, and we were blessed enough to be able to buy a brand new home.

However, with a brand new home comes landscaping.  Not a very inexpensive project, but rewarding upon completion!

At the entry to our home, I wanted to do a very simple display of plants that one will find around the island.  These plants were potted and then surrounded by river rocks.  I chose Pikake for it’s inviting soft and sweet fragrance; ‘Uki’uki for it’s pretty little blue-ish purple flowers that give way to purple berries; Bird of Paradise because they are intriguing and colorful; and, a Footstool Palm, because all homes should welcome their guests with a palm tree!

Here’s a bit of information on those plants:

Pikake: Pikake is the Hawaiian name for a jasmine, Jasminum sambac, which is one of about a dozen Jasminum speciesgrown in Hawaii as ornamentals.  The name is adapted from the word “peacock,” because the Hawaiian PrincessKaiulani reportedly was fond both of this flower and the bird, according to Marie Neal (In Gardens of Hawaii).  J. sambac is known as sampaguita in the Philippines, where it is the national flower, gunda mallige in India, mo li in parts of China, and Arabian jasmine in the mainland USA. It is grown commercially in India, Thailand, China, and the Philippines for its fresh flowers, which are also used to make perfume and as flavoring for tea. In Hawaii, pikake is grownin landscapes and gardens and by commercial producers of lei flowers. Jasminum sambac, from the olive family (Oleaceae), is a native of India. It is a fragrant-flowered shrub, 2–3 feet wide and up to 6 feet tall, that is fairly hardy and drought resistant. It has a moderate growth rate in spring and summer but grows slowly during cool seasons. It has downy branches bearing rich green, rounded to oval, paired leaves with prominent veins. The plant has both bushy and viny growth characteristics. The 1⁄2–3⁄4-inch cream-white flowers are borne at branch terminals either singly or in clusters on new growth. The unopened bud is oval, and the open flower is star-shaped. (reference:  http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/of-29.pdf)

‘Uki’uki: The ‘Uki’uki is found on all the main Hawaiian islands except for Ni’ihau and Kaho’olawe.  It grows on lava and is also found in wet forest, lightly shaded places, dry shrub land, and at elevations of 30-1950 meters.  The ‘Uki’uki is indigenous to Hawai’i.  The juice of its berries were used as a dye for kapa cloth.  The leaves were used for thatching houses.  The leaves and roots were also used for cordage.  The berries also made attractive seed leis. (reference:  http://kms.kapalama.ksbe.edu/projects/2003/plants/ukiuki/index.html)  ‘Uki’uki (Dianella sandwichensis) is a member of the Lily family.  Its leaves contain Fibrovascular Bundles which can be used to make cordage.  ‘Uki’uki was the preferred cordage for house construction.  It was especially useful for the attachment of pili thatch to the outer walls and the roof. (reference: http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/Webb/BishopWeb/ukiuki1.htm)

Bird of Paradise: Bird-of-paradise or crane flower (Strelitzia reginae) is a native of South Africa and is closely related to the banana. The herbaceous plant derives its common names from the unique flower it bears, which resembles a brightly colored bird in flight. The leathery leaves are held upright on stiff leafstalks and are about 6 inches wide and 18 inches long. The plant forms a 3- to 5-foot-tall clump that can be used as a focal point in the landscape or in mass plantings. The evergreen leaves of bird-of-paradise do not drop from the plant, which makes it an excellent addition around pools or wherever shedding leaves are an aesthetic and/or maintenance problem.  The showy bloom is actually a combination of blue petals and orange sepals that emerge from a beak-like bract (modified leaf). Blooms appear intermittently most of the year. Healthy, mature plants can produce as many as three dozen flower spikes a year, which will last up to two weeks when cut. (reference:  http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/MG106)

Footstool Palm: Livistona rotundifolia is a round-leaf fountain palm found in Southeast Asia. It is a member of the genus Livistona. It is also called Footstool palm (English) and Anáhaw (Filipino). It is the national leaf of the Philippines.

It is a common landscaping plant in the region. It can grow in sub-tropical climates and humid, tropical areas.

The leaves are used for thatching and food wrapping. Overharvesting of leaves of wild plants have reduced leaf size. The leaves do grow faster after harvest but tends to be smaller. (reference:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livistona_rotundifolia)

And here are a few photos of our plants.  I hope to update with more recent pictures of blooming flowers later this Spring!  (click the pictures to see them larger).