Few think of plum picking as an Island botanical experience, but it's an annual event at Koke'e State Park on Kaua'i, now at the beginning of palama harvesting season.

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources is allowing palama plucking at Koke'e through Aug. 16.

The palama being plucked is a Japanese plum called Methley. But contrary to that description, the plum originated in China, where it has been cultivated for thousands of years. It was imported to Japan about 200 to 400 years ago, then circulated around the globe with the misnomer "Japanese plum." In addition to the Koke'e cultivar of Methley, other varieties include Santa Rosa, Red Beaut, Ozark Premier, Gold, Beauty, Shiro, Burbank, Friar and Simka, all with various skin and flesh colors. The Methley plum is also cultivated in the higher elevations of Kula and Polipoli Springs on Maui, and Volcano on the Big Island.

The effervescent, white blossoms of these palama trees are as much a feast to the eyes as the plums are to the palate.

Koke'e's Methley plum was originally propagated in Natal, South Africa. Around 1926, it was imported to Hawai'i by Harold L. Lyon, (namesake of Lyon Arboretum in Manoa), the plant pathologist for the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association. Lyon obtained the plum from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Bureau of Plant Industry in Chico, Calif. The cuttings were sent to Kaua'i around 1930 by the Division of Forestry and planted by Kaua'i forester A. J. MacDonald along the roads and trails of Koke'e. Enrollees of the Civilian Conservation Corps, stationed at Koke'e during the Great Depression, contributed to the planting program after 1935. Approximately 18,000 trees were cumulatively sown in Koke'e. In 1952, the territorial government of Hawai'i estimated that 9,000 people gathered plums in Koke'e, harvesting 70 tons of fruit. Palama picking became so embraced by the public that the territory implemented an annual "plum season," defining specific gathering dates and strict limits on the quantity of plums individuals could pluck from government land.

This season, plums can be harvested between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. in precisely defined areas. Each person is permitted 5 pounds of plums per day. A permit is mandatory but available for free at the Koke'e State Park headquarters, where it must be filled and returned to a designated box after picking.

Tip: A relatively easy and rewarding Koke'e hike is the Kaluapuhi trail. After a little more than a mile of walking, you'll reach a T-intersection; take the left fork, which will meander down into an enticing orchard of palama.

Hau'oli palama picking!