6 Growing Plants for Hawaiian Lei ‘a‘ali‘i OTHER COMMON NAMES: ‘a‘ali‘i kū range of habitats from dunes at sea makani, ‘a‘ali‘i kū ma kua, kū- level up through leeward and dry makani, hop bush, hopseed bush forests and to the highest peaks SCIENTIFIC NAME: Dodonaea viscosa CURRENT STATUS IN THE WILD IN HAWAI‘I: common FAMILY: Sapindaceae (soapberry family) CULTIVARS: female cultivars such as ‘Purpurea’ and ‘Saratoga’ have NATURAL SETTING/LOCATION: indigenous, been selected for good fruit color pantropical species, found on all the main Hawaiian Islands except Kaho‘olawe; grows in a wide Growing your own PROPAGATION FORM: seeds; semi-hardwood cuttings or air layering for selected color forms PREPLANTING TREATMENT: step on seed capsule to release small, round, black seeds, or use heavy gloves and rub capsules vigorously between hands; put seeds in water that has been brought to a boil and removed from heat, soak for about 24 hours; if seeds start to swell, sow imme- diately; discard floating, nonviable seeds; use strong rooting hormone on cuttings TEMPERATURE: PLANTING DEPTH: sow seeds ¼" deep in tolerates dry heat; tem- after fruiting period to shape or keep medium; insert base of cutting 1–2" perature 32–90°F short; can be shaped into a small tree or maintained as a shrub, hedge, or into medium ELEVATION: 10–7700' espalier (on a trellis) GERMINATION TIME: 2–4 weeks SALT TOLERANCE: good (moderate at SPECIAL CULTURAL HINTS: male and female CUTTING ROOTING TIME: 1½–3 months higher elevations) plants are separate, although bisex- WIND RESISTANCE: good ual plants can also be found; males PREFERRED PRODUCTION produce no seed capsules; if a cer- CONDITIONS MANAGEMENT tain “variety” (i.e., leaf size, capsule color, etc.) is desired, it is probably GENERAL SOIL CHARACTERISTICS: well FERTILIZER NEEDS: medium best to grow from cuttings or air drained is best; tolerant of dry condi- layering; although drought tolerant, tions RECOMMENDED SPACING: 6–8' apart it will shed leaves during extreme SOIL PH: 5.5–6.5 drought conditions ADAPTATION TO GROWING IN CONTAINERS: yes, LIGHT: SUGGESTED COMPANION PLANTINGS: full sun 2-gallon tubs or larger low native shrubs from dry to moist WATER: moderately drought tolerant PRUNING: responds well to pruning; do habitats, such as ferns, ‘ilima, ‘ākia, not cut back into old wood; prune kupukupu, pōhinahina, ilie‘e, ‘ūlei, kulu‘ī Growing Plants for Hawaiian Lei 7 ‘a‘ali‘i Plant characteristics HEIGHT: 6–24' SPREAD: 6–15' GROWTH RATE: moderate to fast GROWTH HABIT: spreading shrub to small tree SEED CAPSULES Native and Canoe Plants (flowers are insignificant) SIZE: ¼–5⁄8" COLOR: ranges from white/tan to pink and deep burgundy SHAPE: 2- to 5-winged Harvesting References and further TIME TO FRUITING: fruits produced in 2nd considerations reading year after outplanting WHAT IS HARVESTED: fruit (winged papery Bornhorst, Heidi L. 1996. Growing Native capsules) and leaves Hawaiian Plants: A How-to Guide for the FOLIAGE Gardener. Honolulu: Bess Press. HARVESTING TECHNIQUES: cut plant tips TEXTURE: leathery, shiny only Culliney, John L., and Bruce P. Koebele. 1999. A Native Hawaiian Garden: How to COLOR: native forms have green foli- BEST TIME OF DAY TO HARVEST: Grow and Care for Island Plants. Honolulu: age, cultivars have bronzy green to early morning University of Hawai‘i Press. purplish-red foliage BEST WAY TO TRANSPORT FROM PICKING AREA: Metcalf, L.J. 1995. The Propagation of New SHAPE: spatula shaped with blunt or cloth bag or cardboard box Zealand Native Plants. Auckland, New Zea- pointed tips land: Godwit Press. Nagata, Kenneth M. 1992. How to Plant a FRAGRANCE: none Notes on lei making Native Hawaiian Garden. Honolulu: State of Hawai‘i, Office of Environmental Qual- PESTS BEST FOR WHICH TYPE OF LEI: neck, head, ity Control. wrist, ankle, horse COMMON DISEASES: mycoplasma-dodo- Rauch, Fred D., Heidi L. Bornhorst, Rhonda naea yellow disease (virus-like), CLEANING OF PLANT MATERIALS: cold water Stibbe, and David Hensley. 1997. ‘A‘ali‘i. nematodes, powdery mildew, root soak University of Hawai‘i, CTAHR, OF-20. rot STORING RAW LEI MATERIALS: store in card- Stone, Charles P., and Linda W. Pratt. 1994. Hawai‘i’s Plants and Animals: Biological OTHER PESTS: ants, aphids, caterpillars, board box and refrigerate at 40°F for up to 14 days Sketches of Volcanoes National Park. Ho- mealybugs, scales, slugs, spider nolulu: Hawaii Natural History Association mites PREPARING FOR USE IN LEI: clip off wrin- and University of Hawai‘i Press. kled, limp, or poor-quality areas Wagner, Warren L., Derral R. Herbst, and before adding to lei S.H. Sohmer. 1990. Manual of the Flow- STORING A COMPLETED LEI BEFORE WEARING: ering Plants of Hawai‘i. 2 vols. Bishop soak in water for 5 minutes, drip dry, Museum Special Publication 83. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press and Bishop wrap in 3 sheets of damp newspa- Museum Press. per, place in cardboard box or ti leaf pū‘olo (package), and refrigerate PRESERVING A LEI FOR LONG-TERM STORAGE OR DISPLAY: air-dry; capsules keep their color if kept out of the sun 8 Growing Plants for Hawaiian Lei ‘a¯kia OTHER COMMON NAMES: kauhi, Molo- low elevations on Kaua‘i, O‘ahu, ka‘i osmanthus Moloka‘i, and Maui SCIENTIFIC NAME: Wikstroemia CURRENT STATUS IN THE WILD IN HAWAI‘I: uva-ursi uncommon to rare in the wild; most commonly used in landscaping FAMILY: Thymelaeaceae (‘ākia family) CULTIVARS: prostrate and upright forms are available NATURAL SETTING/LOCATION: endemic to Hawaiian Islands; rare to scat- tered on clay flats, ‘a‘ā lava, dry Growing your own HANDLING CAUTIONS: ‘ākia bark and fruits may be poisonous; sap burns skin and eyes PROPAGATION FORM: seeds; semi-hardwood tip cut- tings; air layering PREPLANTING TREATMENT: remove seeds from pulp, soak in water for 24 hours, discard nonviable floating seeds, and start in full sun with 1–2 seeds per container; select semi- mature tip cuttings and treat with medium rooting hormone PLANTING DEPTH: sow seed ¼–½" deep in medium; insert base of cutting 1–2" into medium GERMINATION TIME: 1–12 months ELEVATION: 10–1500' PRUNING: can be kept shaped but dras- tic pruning may cause dieback; light CUTTING ROOTING TIME: SALT TOLERANCE: good 7–8 weeks under heading back may be necessary periodic mist WIND RESISTANCE: good SPECIAL CULTURAL HINTS: avoid water- PREFERRED PRODUCTION logged soils; once established, MANAGEMENT CONDITIONS keep on the dry side; not all plants FERTILIZER NEEDS: medium produce fruits; propagate ripe fruits GENERAL SOIL CHARACTERISTICS: well (red ones); plants from seed vary in drained RECOMMENDED SPACING: a minimum of growth form 12" apart in rows such that a person SOIL PH: 6.5 SUGGESTED COMPANION PLANTINGS: can reach middle of plants low LIGHT: full sun native shrubs from dry to moist hab- ADAPTATION TO GROWING IN CONTAINERS: yes, itats such as ferns, ‘ilima, ‘a‘ali‘i, WATER: keep dry from 6" pots to large display pots kupukupu, pōhinahina, ilie‘e, ‘ūlei, TEMPERATURE: 65–90°F and planter boxes kului Growing Plants for Hawaiian Lei 9 ‘a¯kia Plant characteristics HEIGHT: 2–5' SPREAD: 2–5' GROWTH RATE: slow to establish GROWTH HABIT: dense, spreading or sprawling shrub FLOWERS Native and Canoe Plants SIZE: to ½" COLOR: yellow-green SHAPE: tubular, four-part FRAGRANCE: yes, resembling honey- suckle FLOWERS IN FIRST YEAR: no; plants from cuttings will flower faster than seed- The lei shown also contains ‘a‘ali‘i, pūkiawe, ‘ūlei, palapalai, and ‘ōhi‘a lehua. lings (2–3 years) FLOWERING PERIOD: year-round HARVESTING TECHNIQUES: pull and twist or lei can be stored in ti leaf pū‘olo or TIME TO FLOWERING: 12–18 months to cut cardboard box; fruit can be stored in flowering and 2–3 years to harvest- plastic container able size BEST TIME OF DAY TO HARVEST: early morning PRESERVING A LEI FOR LONG-TERM STORAGE OR INDUCING AND MAINTAINING FLOWERING: not DISPLAY: cannot be preserved known; flowering can occur year- BEST WAY TO TRANSPORT FROM PICKING AREA: round without special treatment if cloth bag plant is not under stress References and further reading Notes on lei making FOLIAGE Bornhorst, Heidi L. 1996. Growing Native BEST FOR WHICH TYPE OF LEI: TEXTURE: waxy neck, head, Hawaiian Plants: A How-to Guide for the wrist, ankle Gardener. Honolulu: Bess Press. COLOR: pale green; selected forms are CLEANING OF PLANT MATERIALS: dense with blue-green foliage cold water Culliney, John L., and Bruce P. Koebele. soak 1999. A Native Hawaiian Garden: How to SHAPE: small, oval, short-stemmed Grow and Care for Island Plants. Honolulu: STORING RAW LEI MATERIALS: place branch University of Hawai‘i Press. FRAGRANCE: none tips and flowers in water for 5 min- utes before storing in ti leaf pū‘olo Rauch, Fred D., and David Hensley. 1997. “‘ kia.” University of Hawai‘i, CTAHR, PESTS (package) or cardboard box for up to Ā 7 days; place fruit in plastic con- OF-12. COMMON DISEASES: root rot, root-knot tainer and store for up to 14 days; Stone, Charles P., and Linda W. Pratt. 1994. nematode refrigerate at 40°F Hawai‘i’s Plants and Animals: Biological Sketches of Hawaii Volcanoes National OTHER PESTS: scales, snails, slugs PREPARING FOR USE IN LEI: clip off wrin- Park. Honolulu: Hawaii Natural History As- kled, limp, or poor-quality areas sociation and University of Hawai‘i Press. before adding to lei; if sewing fruit, Harvesting clip all stems; flowers and fruits can Wagner, Warren L., Derral R. Herbst, and considerations S.H. Sohmer. 1990. Manual of the Flow- be used together or separately ering Plants of Hawai‘i. 2 vols. Bishop WHAT IS HARVESTED: branch tips, flowers, STORING A COMPLETED LEI BEFORE WEARING: Museum Special Publication 83.