Native Plants of Hawai‘i - Draceana 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 and soft but brittle wood. Its thin strap-like leaves, 10 to 15 inches (25 to 38 cm) long and about ⅔ inch (1.7 cm) wide, are spirally clustered near the end of its branches. Dozens of perfect (bisexual) greenish-yellow flowers hang down from each branched inflorescence, which curves down under the crown of a branch's leaves, with generally one inflorescence per branch. Each pollinated flower develops into a bright red to brown juicy grape-sized fruit containing one to three yellow to cream-colored seeds. Wild plants tend to bloom once a year in the winter or spring, with fruits ripening in summer to fall.

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 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 site. 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.

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 will break in high winds (or careless hands), so you should keep your plant in a 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 over-fertilizing your hala pepe. However, applying a balanced slow-release fertilizer with minor elements every six months, or a foliar feeding every one to two months with an organic or inorganic water-soluble fertilizer diluted to ⅓ to ½ recommended strength can increase growth. Also, avoid pruning your hala pepe except to remove dead lower leaves or old fruit stems.

Pests and 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, so refer to the Pests & Diseases page for the best way(s) to battle each of these pests.

Leaf spot (probably Fusarium) is a common hala pepe disease on plants with frequently wetted leaves (by a sprinkler or hand-sprayer). The easiest cure is simply to cut away or gently remove the infected leaves and adopt a watering method that keeps the leaves dry. Occasionally, hala pepe are infested by scale insects. Refer to the Pests & Diseases page for ways to eliminate scale insects.

Overwatering, 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.

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 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 troubles 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 [Manoa Heritage Center; Native Plant Portraits 2020].

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 (2025), there are approximately 3,170 species within 126 genera in the family [WikipediA;Asparagaceae].

There are currently seven recognized species of native Dracaena in the Hawaiian Islands, with each species limited in range to one or two islands.

Dracaena aurea — Kauaʻi
Dracaena auwahiensis — Moloka'i and Maui
Dracaena fernaldii — Lānaʻi
Dracaena forbesii — Oʻahu
Dracaena halapepe — Oʻahu
Dracaena halemanuensis — Kauaʻi
Dracaena konaensis — 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. Halapepe, as one word, occasionally appears in the literature in reference to these plants.

Etymology

Dracaena is the Latinize 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