Native Plants of Hawai‘i - Dracaena forbesii

Dracaena forbesii

Asparagaceae or Asparagus family

Synonyms: Chrysodracon forbesii, Pleomele forbesii

Hala pepe

Leʻie

Forbes' hala pepe

Natural Range & Environment

Dracaena forbesii is endemic to O‘ahu. It grows in dry to mesic forests, primarily in the Waiʻanae Mountains, but also in the north and south ends of the Koʻolau Mountains from 240 to 730 m (787 to 2,395 ft) [Wagner et al. 1990]. Botanist William R. Hatheway noted in 1952 that this species was "one of the most common and striking of the trees in the Mokulēʻia dry forests" [St. John 1985]. Today, according to the last two USFWS ECOS 5-year reviews (2024 & 2019), there are probably fewer than 150 plants left in the wild. Unfortunately, seeds of this species are recalcitrant, meaning they cannot be dried and stored for long periods (i.e., years). This has seriously hampered any attempt at genetic preservation or species restoration by professional conservationists, and therefore, there's a real possibility that D. forbesii could become extinct if it's not brought into widespread cultivation soon.

Hawaiians strung the yellow or golden flowers of hala pepe into lei (Photograph courtesy of J.K. Obata via G.D. Carr ©.). This cultivated hala pepe is several years old but still immature (i.e., not yet flowered). A large wild and mature plant in the Wai‘anae Mountains, O‘ahu (Photograph courtesy of Hubert Szczygieł CC BY-NC 4.0.).

Description

Dracaena forbesii is an endangered long-lived (greater than five years) shrub or tree up to about 20 feet (6 m) tall and sometimes nearly as wide because of multiple main and side branches. It has light gray bark with a reticulate pattern (at least partially the result of old leaf scars) and soft but brittle wood.

Dracaena forbesii has thin strap-like leaves spirally clustered near the end of its branches that are about a foot (30 cm) long. These leaves are typically thinner, less than ⅔ inch (1.7 cm), compared to its O‘ahu companion species, D. halapepe (see Special Features and Information).

Dracaena forbesii produces dozens of perfect (bisexual) greenish-yellow to golden flowers that hang down from each branched inflorescence. The inflorescence itself curves down under the crown of a branch's leaves, with generally one inflorescence per branch. Wild plants tend to bloom once a year in winter or spring, with fruits ripening in summer to fall. Pollinated flowers develop into bright red, juicy, grape-sized fruits that turn purplish-brown as they ripen. Each berry typically has one rounded yellow to cream-colored seed; however, occasionally a fruit will contain two or three wedge-shaped seeds. Unfortunately, the seeds of D. forbesii, like those of other hala pepe, cannot survive long-term storage.

Growth Requirements

General

Dracaena forbesii, as well as the other endemic Hawaiian hala pepe, can be a challenge to maintain in the landscape because of their shared lethal above-ground pests and soil-borne diseases (see Pests and Diseases below). Additionally, D. forbesii grows slowly (i.e., 6 to 12 inches [15 to 30 cm] per year; mostly during the winter), tends to produce more branches than other hala pepe species, and takes ten or more years to start flowering in cultivation. However, its graceful appearance and beautiful clusters of flowers are well worth the extra care and wait. Plant your hala pepe in the ground as an accent in the landscape or en masse, several feet apart, as a screen or to provide partial shade for other less sun-loving native plants. Hala pepe can also be maintained as a container plant, a great option if your landscape is home to plenty of snails, slugs, rats, or mice.

Dracaena forbesii does best in a site with full sunlight for all or most of the day and will languish in a shady location. When first planted, water your hala pepe about once a week until its roots are well established (in six months to a year). Then, slowly reduce your watering to once a month in hot, dry sites — less or no watering in places with more rainfall. Waterings should be long and deep rather than short showers. Overwatering can be deadly, and the soil around your plant should be surface dry most of the time.

In-the-ground Dracaena forbesii do not appear to need fertilizer. However, if your hala pepe fails to grow or you are keeping it in a container, try applying a balanced controlled-release fertilizer once or twice a year. Alternatively, you can apply an organic or inorganic foliar fertilizer at ½ to ⅓ the recommended strength two to three times a year. It seems that at least some hala pepe species (e.g., D. konaensis) need more potassium than many other native Hawaiian plants (see Pests and Diseases below). Therefore, make sure your fertilizer contains a significant amount of potassium.

Dracaena forbesii is heat- and drought-tolerant and will grow in lava/cinder, clay-, or organic-dominant soils, provided the soil drains well. Similarly, hala pepe in containers do best when filled with an easy-draining media (i.e., 50%-plus cinder or perlite).

Hala pepe branches are brittle and will break in high winds (or careless hands), so you should keep your plant in a semi-protected site. Fortunately, healthy plants will usually recover from even major breaks (e.g., the top of a single-stemmed plant breaks off) and will put out new stem shoots from the remaining branch(es). (This is a common observation of wild plants found in windy sites.)

Avoid pruning your hala pepe except to remove dead lower leaves or old fruit stems. Hala pepe bark and wood are soft. Therefore, it's a good idea to protect the base of your plant from trimmers and chewing pests with a wire cylinder, 2L plastic bottle, or other means.

Pests and Diseases

All of the endemic Hawaiian Dracaena can be a challenge to maintain in the landscape because of their shared above-ground pests and soil-borne diseases. Chewing pests such as cockroaches, snails and slugs, and rats and mice are always a serious and potentially lethal concern with hala pepe, even with large, mature plants. Therefore, inspect the base of your plant regularly since this is normally the first area attacked. Unfortunately, there is no universal defense against chewing pests, so refer to the Pests & Diseases page for the best way(s) to battle each of these pests. Occasionally, hala pepe are infested by scale insects. Refer to the Pests & Diseases page for ways to eliminate scale insects.

For the longest time, I incorrectly diagnosed the leaf spotting on the older leaves of hala pepe (see photographs below) as some type of fungal infection. Then I came across Scot Nelson's photographs on Flickr. Scot Nelson is a Plant Pathologist at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, so I trust his diagnosis. Dr. Nelson states that these spots are a symptom of potassium deficiency. Therefore, the proper treatment if you see these spots is to apply a potassium-rich fertilizer to your hala pepe. Several suitable options are available for purchase online or at your local garden shop.

Now, if you see leaf spotting on the newest leaves or if the center of the leaf crown starts to rot, then your hala pepe probably does have some type of fungal disease. This can be promoted by water getting trapped in the crown or between the leaves. To avoid this, water the soil, not the plant. If you use sprinklers in your landscape, make the necessary adjustments to avoid this watering mistake.

Overwatering or poor drainage, resulting in constantly wet soil, can promote harmful soil-borne fungi and bacteria that can infect the base and roots of your hala pepe and kill it. Therefore, don't overwater, and keep the surface soil around your plant dry most of the time.

Potassium deficiency in cultivated hala pepe (Dracaena konaensis). Photographs courtesy of Scot Nelson Public Domain.

Uses

Ancient Hawaiian

Dracaena forbesii is one of seven currently recognized species of native Dracaena in the Hawaiian Islands, with each species limited in range to one or two islands. As best we can tell, Hawaiians referred to all seven species by the same names, Hala pepe or Leʻie. Therefore, it is (currently) impossible to tell if every native Dracaena species was used by every Hawaiian the same way (or used at all) in ancient times.

Hala pepe flowers were used in lei [Krauss 1993]. The soft wood was carved into statues (ki‘i) [Hillebrand & Hillebrand 1888], while branches were used to decorate altars, including hula altars, and represented the goddesses Laka [Little & Skomen 1989] or Kapo [Abbott 1992]. Somewhat surprisingly, we could not find any record of pre-contact Hawaiians weaving hala pepe leaves into mats, etc., as they did extensively with hala (Pandanus tectorius).

According to Ka‘aiakamanu & Akina [1922], hala pepe bark and leaves were used in combination with other plants to treat chills and high fever. And, hala pepe bark, root, and leaves in combination with other plants were used to treat lung problems or asthma. We were unable to find other ethnobotanical records supporting Ka‘aiakamanu and Akina claims.

Modern Use

Today, hala pepe flowers and leaves are used for lei [McDonald & Weissich 2003].

Special Features and Information

General

Asparagaceae includes species that vary widely in their appearance and growth form but is based on the edible garden asparagus (Asparagus officinalis). The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, with species native to all continents except Antarctica. Its taxonomy has undergone several revisions, including some recent changes since 2000. Currently (2026), there are approximately 3,170 species within 126 genera in the family. Based primarily on recent molecular genetic research, members of the old Agavaceae (Agave family) such as the genus Dracaena, along with all the endemic Hawaiian species, were reorganized within Asparagaceae [WikipediA;Asparagaceae]. In Hawai‘i, the only native species within Asparagaceae are members of the genus Dracaena [Flora of the Hawaiian Islands].

Currently (2026), there are seven recognized species of native Dracaena in the Hawaiian Islands, with each species limited in range to one or two islands [Flora of the Hawaiian Islands].

Dracaena aurea — is a tree found in mesic forests on Kaua‘i.
Dracaena auwahiensis — is a tree found in dry and mesic forests on Moloka‘i and Maui.
Dracaena fernaldii — is an endangered tree found in remnant dry forests on Lānaʻi.
Dracaena forbesii — is an endangered tree found in dry and mesic forests on Oʻahu.
Dracaena halapepe — is a tree found in mesic forests on Oʻahu.
Dracaena halemanuensis — is a recently classified species found on Kauaʻi.
Dracaena konaensis — is an endangered tree found in dry forests on Hawaiʻi Island.

On Oʻahu, one easy and relatively reliable way to distinguish Dracaena forbesii from D. halapepe is the width of its leaves. If the leaf of a mature tree is narrower than your thumb, it's likely P. forbesii; wider, it's probably P. halapepe.

(Photograph courtesy of Karl Magnacca CC BY-NC 4.0.)

Hawaiian Name

In Hawaiian, Pepe can mean "small," while Pēpē can mean "baby" [Pukui & Elbert 1986]. Therefore, it is generally believed that Hala pepe means "small or baby hala," hala (Pandanus tectorius) being a common and important plant to Hawaiians. Likely, it was the similarity in the shape of the two trees and their leaves, along with the observation that hala pepe trees and their leaves are generally smaller than those of hala, that led to this naming. Pepe can also mean "flat," which leads to an alternative explanation for the name proposed by Karl Magnacca: that the name refers to the flat leaves of hala pepe compared to the ridged leaves of hala. Halapepe, as one word, occasionally appears in the literature in reference to these plants.

Etymology

Dracaena is the Latinized form of the Greek word drakaina, meaning "female dragon," and likely is a reference to the dragon tree (with its red resinous sap), described by Carl Linnaeus, who assigned it to the new genus [WikipediA;Dracaena draco]. The species name, forbesii, is likely named for Charles Noyes Forbes (1883–1920), a botanist and former curator of Botany at the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum in Honolulu [WikipediA;Charles Noyes Forbes].

BPK