honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Sunday, March 10, 2002

HOMESTYLE
Native habitat of our state flower belies its splendor

By Heidi Bornhorst

Dear Heidi:

What is our state flower? Is it any yellow hibiscus? I think as patriotic Hawaiians, we should have one in our garden. Where could I get one? — Mahalo, Tom Nakoa, Kahala

Mao hau hele, or native yellow hibiscus, was designated Hawai'i's state flower in 1988.

Advertiser library photo

Mr. Nakoa:

Our state flower is mao hau hele, known to scientists as Hibiscus brackenridgei. It is native to imperiled dryland forests (fire weeds, goats and development all threaten it in the wild). A form or variety is native to all the main Hawaiian Islands, one reason it was chosen as our official state flower in 1988.

It is an endangered native plant, yet it is easy to grow from cuttings or seeds. Once you get one, you can make lots of keiki and share them with others.

Our O'ahu variety once was thought lost. The dry forests in the Wai'anae Range where it was last seen are full of weeds, fires sweep through, and there are lots of hungry, trampling goats and pigs that munch on this and other vulnerable native plants.

Jimmy and Nellie Pang searched the area for weeks and found a scraggly plant that might be it. They brought it to Waimea Arboretum, and director Keith Wooliams identified it as mao hau hele. This was a happy day for Hawaiian plant lovers. Waimea nurtured the sad plant from the wild and propagated more. They shared it with other botanical gardens.

We got one and grew it at Ho'omaluhia Botanical Garden. For many years, we had a volunteer, Riki Saito, who was a superb photographer. Her mission was to get a picture of every plant in the 400-acre garden.

Riki, a very patient and observant woman, was getting frustrated by our state flower. She just could not find a perfect bloom. They were always beat up or munched (alien insects like natives, too).

I really wanted to help her. I learned so much from her about patience, perseverance and photography, and I wanted us to have that perfect picture, too.

I was working in the Hawaiian section, Kahua Lehua, late one spring evening. Riki and I had been keeping an eye on the developing buds. Just as I was packing up for pau hana, I glanced at the bud and saw it unfurling.

"Riki!" I called. "It's a pau-hana flower, rewarding those of us who work long late hours! We need to get that picture in the evening!" We were both happy. Riki got that perfect picture and many more as we found out more about the plant. The O'ahu form opens in the evening.

We recently lost Riki to cancer, and had a celebration of her life, with her friends and family at Ho'omaluhia. It reminded me of all I had learned from her, and of her many gifts to the garden.

We need to replant mao hau hele at Ho'omaluhia. This plant definitely benefits from horticulture. In the spring, it blooms heavily, and in the wild where it is very dry, it would then go dormant in the summer with few leaves. In a garden, it grows lushly, not knowing that it is harsh summer out there. So trim it back and propagate cuttings in a pot to share with your friends. Do not give it much fertilizer, especially nitrogen (the first number on the bag) or the tops will be too full and it could huli maka flip, because the roots cannot support the overfed branches and leaves.

Ask for it at your local garden shop, and make sure it has an orange endangered-plant tag. This plant is often offered at benefit sales by botanical gardens.