From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. anyone who registers at the Manoa Recreation Center pavilion will be given their choice from more than two dozen varieties of fruit, shade and endemic trees. Arborists and plant doctors will also be there to give advice on the care and planting of the trees and to answer questions.

Manoa-based Boy Scout Troop 1 will be on hand to help load the trees, and each recipient will get a free planting guide published by Hawaiian Electric Co.

Kailua resident Heidi Hughes wants to pick up a mountain apple tree for her yard, "because it's a tree I haven't seen much of recently in Hawai'i," she said. "I think it might do well in my area climate."

Hughes said because the trees are free and she can get advice on caring for the plant, it will be much easier for her to take a chance on growing a relatively rare tree.

"I would like to grow mountain apples and offer them to my friends," she said.

Kukui nut

Plumeria

Mango

"Standing under a tree, enjoying the shade and the birds singing, it's a quality-of-life thing," LeGrande said. "Go to where people don't protect their trees and it is a stark, much harsher world."

LeGrande said the tree giveaway began last summer with an effort to save a 170-year-old hau tree on what used to be the summer palace of Queen Ka'ahumanu.

An elderly woman who lives on the property was being pressured by her children to cut the tree down because it was so expensive to maintain. Malama volunteers along with Punahou School students pruned and cleaned up the tree, collecting 71 bags of trash.

From that tree, 50 to 100 cuttings were propagated and those new trees will be given away Sunday.

Malama also asked area Rep. Kirk Caldwell to introduce a bill to provide help for residents to maintain exceptional trees in the state by providing a tax deduction. The bill passed last session and now is law.

"There are exceptional trees on every island," Caldwell said. "They are determined by each county based on cultural and historical significance, size, rarity and the unique features of the tree. Many people like their trees, but not the cost to maintain them. This is a way to help preserve them."