Ripe lama fruits can be anywhere from yellow to red, depending on the tree or population. Here, in dissection, you can see the differences between lama's male and female flowers. The new leaves of lama are bright red to orange, a likely explanation of why Hawaiians gave this tree its name; the word lama also means "torch, light, or flame." You will sometimes see wild lama with these strange growths caused by an eriophyid mite; we've never seen the growths on cultivated plants. A mature wild tree on Maui. (Photographs of ripe yellow fruits, strange growth, and mature wild tree courtesy of Forest & Kim Starr CC BY 3.0 US). Header photograph of ripe red fruit courtesy of Amy Tsuneyoshi ©).

Growth Requirements

General

    Diospyros sandwicensis is a beautiful but slow-growing tree. Use it in a landscape as an accent, or, if you are patient, a shade tree. Planted en masse, five to ten feet apart, it can be used as an informal screen. Lama will become root-bound and stunted in a container; however, it normally doesn't die and can be kept indoors or outside in Bonsai style. If you intend to place your lama in the ground, do so when it is still small (about 12 inches [30 cm] or less tall) because: (1) it will grow faster in the ground than in a container; and (2) the wiry taproot of larger lama will spiral in its pot, making it more difficult for the roots to grow properly and the tree to survive when it is finally planted in the ground.

    Diospyros sandwicensis grows best in a site with full sunlight for all or most of the day, but can tolerate slight or partial shading. Water your newly-planted lama weekly until established (i.e., two feet [61 cm] tall in one to two years) and then stop watering unless you see signs of drought stress such as leaf loss. Regularly watering an older lama is likely to increase the chances of a soil fungus or bacterial disease attacking and killing your tree. Lama can survive extreme heat, drought, and strong winds, and will grow in calcareous-, lava/cinder-, and clay-dominant soils, provided the soil drains well; neither of us has tried to grow lama in sand. Small trees grow better if fertilized with: (1) a balanced slow-release fertilizer (with minor elements) every six months, or (2) monthly applications of a foliar water-soluble organic or inorganic fertilizer diluted to ½ to ⅓ recommended strength. 

    Be patient with lama — they grow slowly and take their time to mature. In cultivation, it can take five or more years for a young tree to match your height and begin flowering. However, at this size, they are, in our experience, remarkably resilient. Lama is normally dioecious (separate pollen-producing and fruit-producing trees). Therefore, if your goal is to have a tree loaded with colorful (and edible) fruit, you will need to plant more than one and be lucky enough to have at least one male tree and one female tree.

Pests and Diseases

    As previously mentioned, lama can be attacked by a small eriophyid mite that causes the tree to produce finely branched growths on the branches [Gardner]. However, we have yet to see this happen to a cultivated tree. Watch for mealybugs on the roots and scale insects on the stems, usually accompanied by ants, on young lama. Chinese rose beetles and other chewing insects can periodically disfigure lama leaves. (Lama leaves are long-lived, so this damage is more noticeable than on plants with short-lived leaves.) Black twig borers can also sometimes become a problem, particularly in wetter windless sites. Refer to the Pests & Diseases page for ways to deal with each of these insect pests. Recently, we have seen cultivated lama infested with lobate lac scale (Paratachardina pseudolobata), an alien scale insect first appearing in Hawai‘i in 2012. This is a particularly nasty pest, and the full impact it might have on lama in the wild is yet unknown. In the landscape, we have combated this pest by repeatedly spraying the tree with horticultural oil and drenching its roots with a systemic insecticide. 

Special Features and Information

General

    Ebenaceae is a family of trees and shrubs with about 768 species within four genera distributed across the tropical and warmer temperate regions of the world [WikipediA;Ebenaceae].    

    There are about 500 species in the genus Diospyros. Notable genus members include species prized for their beautiful wood, such as the black wood of the Ceylon ebony (D. ebenum) and the striped wood of the makassar (D. celebica). Other relatives have edible fruit such as the delicious Japanese persimmon or kaki (D. kaki), and the highly nutritious American persimmon (D. virginiana) [Britannia;Diospyros].

    While Diospyros sandwicensis is endemic to most of the main Hawaiian Islands, Diospyros hillebrandii, a sister species, is only found on Kauaʻi and Oʻahu; both species have the same Hawaiian name, lama.

Hawaiian Name

    Lama, like many Hawaiian words, has multiple meanings. In addition to being the name for two closely related endemic trees, Diospyros sandwicensis and D. hillebrandii, lama also means "torch, light, and flame" [Krauss 1993]. As in English, this meaning was extended to suggest enlightenment, as in the learning of hula. The Kapiʻolani Community College Library on Oʻahu is named Lama, while a section of Honolulu, a school, and a canal are all named Kapālama, meaning "the lama wood enclosure," a place where high chiefs were protected. Additionally, a street and a second section of Honolulu are named Pālama, meaning "lama wood enclosure" [Pukui et al. 1976].

Etymology

    Diospyros is derived from the Greek words dios, meaning "god" or "divine," and pyros, meaning "wheat" or "grain," together meaning the "divine fruit" or "fruit of the gods" [Adkins Arboretum]. The species name, sandwicensis, refers to the "Sandwich Islands," as the Hawaiian Islands were once called and named by James Cook on one of his voyages in the 1770s. James Cook named the islands to honor John Montagu (The fourth Earl of Sandwich) for supporting Cook's voyages [Gledhill 2008].