Native Plants of Hawai‘i - Leptecophylla tameiameiae

Leptecophylla tameiameiae

formerly Styphelia tameiameiae

Ericaceae or Heath family

Synonyms: Cyathodes banksii, Cyathodes douglasii, Cyathodes douglasii var. struthioloides, Cyathodes imbricata, Cyathodes imbricata var. struthioloides, Cyathodes imbricata var. volcanica, Cyathodes macraeana, Cyathodes tameiameiae, Cyathodes tameiameiae var. brownii, Cyathodes tameiameiae var. chamissoi, Cyathodes tameiameiae f. collina, Cyathodes tameiameiae var. macraeana, Cyathodes tameiameiae f. montana, Styphelia douglasii, Styphelia douglasii var. struthioloides, Styphelia grayana, Styphelia tameiameiae, Styphelia tameiameiae var. brownii, Styphelia tameiameiae var. hexamera, Styphelia tameiameiae f. marquesensis

Pūkiawe

ʻAʻaliʻi mahu, Kānehoa,

Kāwaʻu (Lānaʻi and Maui), Maiele, Maieli, Puakeawe, Puakiawe, Pukeawe, Pūpūkiawe

Hawaiian heather, Kamehameha styphelia

Natural Range & Environment

Leptecophylla tameiameiae is native to the Hawaiian and Marquesas Islands (Te Fenua ‘Enata and Te Henua ‘Enana). In Hawai‘i, it is found on all the main Islands except Niʻihau and Kahoʻolawe, where it may have occurred in the past [Wagner et al. 1990].

Pūkiawe is a common shrub, sometimes being the principal component of a region's plant community. It has a very wide elevation range, 60 to 3,220 m (197 to 10,564 ft), and is found in many different habitats, including lowland mesic forest, mesic shrubland [Koebele], and open areas, montane mesic [Koebele] and wet forest, fog-swept subalpine [Koebele] and alpine shrubland and bogs, and (rarely) windward coastal areas [Wagner et al. 1990].

Like their fruits, the tiny flowers of pūkiawe can vary in color (White flowers photograph courtesy of Susan Fawcett CC BY-NC 4.0; pink flowers photograph courtesy of Kenneth R. Wood (NTBG) CC BY-NC 4.0.). It's not uncommon to see numerous tiny pūkiawe seedlings directly beneath their parent plant (Photograph courtesy of Forest & Kim Starr CC BY 3.0 US.). The small round ripe fruits of pūkiawe can be anywhere from pure white to very dark red with pink and red fruits being the most common color (White fruits photograph courtesy of Mike Wood CC BY-NC 4.0; dark red fruits photograph courtesy of Saxony Charlot CC BY-NC 4.0; wild shrub with red fruits photograph courtesy of manzanitamel CC BY-NC 4.0.). It's rare to see cultivated pūkiawe, but here are three examples: a small potted plant in a Lāna‘i nursery (photograph courtesy of tajfalconer CC BY-NC 4.0); a small shrub on the corner of an old log cabin in Kula, Maui (photograph courtesy of Forest & Kim Starr CC BY 2.0); a larger shrub surrounded by lavender, also in Kula, Maui.

Description

While currently Leptecophylla tameiameiae is classified as a single species with no formal divisions, because of its morphological and ecological diversity, some taxonomists have in the past formally divided the species into different forms, varieties, or even different species, as evident by the numerous synonyms listed above [Wagner et al. 1990]. Therefore, future molecular or morphological studies may potentially change how we view the taxonomy of pūkiawe.

Pūkiawe is a long-lived (greater than five years) shrub that varies in size and stature, with size and height often correlating with its habitat. For example: (1) within bogs, plants are typically very short or trailing; (2) in open drier areas, pūkiawe are short (typically less than six feet [2 m] tall) and very wide shrubs (see photographs above); and (3) tree-like forms (more than six feet [2 m] tall) are most often seen within forests. According to Little & Skolmen [1989], the bark of pūkiawe is gray, becoming "scaly and shaggy" with age, while the wood is fine-textured, heavy, and moderately hard, with a light reddish-brown sapwood and dark reddish-brown heartwood.

The small, closely-spaced leaves of pūkiawe can vary in shape and size, being anywhere from lance-like to nearly elliptic. However, the leaves always(?) have a sharp point at their tip and an upper surface that is dark green without visible veins while the lower surface is light green with visible veins. Also, there are normally tiny hairs at the base of each leaf. New growth (i.e., young leaves) often appears silvery or white from a distance.

Pūkiawe has tiny 5-lobed bell-shaped flowers that are most often white but can also be tinted with pink (see photographs above). According to Flora of the Hawaiian Islands, flowers can be perfect (bisexual) or unisexual (with plants that are nearly dioecious but with some perfect flowers on an otherwise staminate or pistillate plant). Wild plants typically bloom in the fall and winter months. When pollinated, flowers develop into small round green (unripe) fruits that can be anywhere from pure white to very dark red when ripe; pink and red fruits are most common. The ripe fruits are soft and mealy, and a favored food of nēnē (Branta sandvicensis), Hawai‘i's State bird [Black et al. 1994]. Within each fruit is one stony endocarp with potentially as many as eight seeds inside. However, when propagated, rarely do you see more than one seed sprout from a sown endocarp.

Growth Requirements

General

There are a handful of very common native Hawaiian plants that have thus far proven to be almost impossible to cultivate; pūkiawe is one of these. I (Koebele) recall a conversation I had many years ago with Dennis Kim, an early promoter of using native Hawaiian plants in local landscapes, telling me pūkiawe is the “Holy Grail” of commercial landscapers, and that the first landscaper to figure out how to grow it and keep it alive in people’s yards will make a fortune.

My experiences growing pūkiawe (as well as those of other growers I know) are mostly limited to pre-sowing treatment experiments attempting to improve seed germination. I and others [Stratton et al. 1998] have tried various methods, such as cracking the endocarp, or soaking the endocarp in vinegar, hot water, or gibberellic acid prior to sowing. For me, none of these treatments consistently improve germination. Baskin et al. [2005] conducted an extensive study of Leptecophylla tameiameiae germination and concluded that its seeds have deep physiological dormancy requiring a long period of time (16 to ≥162 weeks) to come out of dormancy and germinate, and that treatments like cold stratification and gibberellic acid (GA3) did not improve germination. They also found that excised embryos failed to grow.

Given this backstory, my current advice to anyone wanting to grow pūkiawe is to collect a lot of ripe fruits (100 or more; not too hard since pūkiawe are common and each plant typically produces many fruits each year), clean the fruits down to their stony endocarps, sow the endocarps in a tray of fresh clean media mix (e.g., 2:1; perlite; sphagnum peat moss), and wait. Based on the Baskin et al. [2005] study, at least some of your 100-plus endocarps should sprout fairly soon (i.e., 16 weeks). You can then concentrate on keeping these first seedlings alive and experimenting with creative methods to get them growing as quickly as possible.

Most of the wild pūkiawe we see today grow in cool upland climates (although there are still places where you can see near-coastal pūkiawe). This may be an important clue to their cultivation, particularly, if you collect your pūkiawe fruits from a montane plant. If this is the case, try keeping your pūkiawe seedlings as cool as possible if you are trying to grow them in a lowland area (e.g., Honolulu). Better yet, if possible, avoid this potential problem by collecting and sprouting fruits/seeds from a lowland pūkiawe.

Wild pūkiawe seedlings can be found both in sunny and shaded sites. Therefore, as long as you keep their media moist, both lighting conditions are likely to be okay; experiment and let us know! Most plants in the Heath family (Ericaceae) grow in acidic or infertile soils [WikipediA;Ericaceae]. Therefore, consider transferring your pūkiawe seedlings from their germination tray to individual pots filled with mostly sphagnum peat moss while they are still quite small; Canadian sphagnum peat moss is the most acidic. There is also evidence that Ericaeae form a mutualistic relationship with ericoid mycorrhizal fungi in the soil that help the plants' roots extract nutrients [WikipediA;Ericoid mycorrhiza]. Therefore, collecting a small amount of soil from beneath a wild pūkiawe and adding it to your media mix is probably a good idea; again, experiment! What you don't want to do is fertilize your pūkiawe seedlings. I have tried this, and it has always quickly ended in disaster (i.e., dead seedlings).

Everyone seems to agree that pūkiawe seedlings grow very slowly. So, if you attempt to grow this species, you need to be very patient (and comfortable with failures). Interestingly, one study by Hart [2009] found mature pūkiawe were not the slowest growing plants in a native Hawaiian wet forest, and that they grew faster than both ʻōhiʻa lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha) and kōlea lau nui (Myrsine lessertiana). This information provides us with at least some hope that, once past the juvenile stage, pūkiawe may grow at a reasonable pace under cultivation. We would love to improve upon the information provided on this webpage. Therefore, if you have had some success growing pūkiawe, please contact us at EickhoffandKoebele@gmail.com so we can add your findings to this webpage and share them with others wishing to grow this beautiful plant.

Pests and Diseases

Red spider mites sometimes attack pūkiawe seedlings. Refer to the Pest & Diseases page for treatments.

Uses

Ancient Hawaiian

Possibly the most interesting ancient use of pūkiawe was to mask or destroy a person's mana. Hawaiians believe(d) that mana was a person's supernatural inner power or authority [Pukui & Elbert 1986]. This spiritual essence resides primarily within a person's bones [Cultural Survival]. Hawaiians of high social rank such as ali‘i (i.e., the ruling class), because of their authority, were believed to have powerful mana and, therefore, could not interact freely with Hawaiians of lower classes without reducing their mana and inflicting harm or punishment on lower-class individuals because of the many strict kapu (taboos). To get around this isolation and freely mingle with their subjects, ali‘i would enter a small hale (house) filled with the smoke of burning pūkiawe and smudge him or herself with the ash. This ritual would then mask their mana and permit them to interact freely with others without the above-mentioned consequences. Afterward, a kahuna (priest) would recite a pule huikala (i.e., a prayer for dispensation) to unmask the mana of the ali‘i [Degener 1973]. Similarly, criminals (i.e., "outlaws") would be cremated in a fire of pūkiawe wood [Neal 1965] to destroy or render harmless the criminal's mana.

Hawaiians used the leaves and fruits of pūkiawe in lei-making [Abbott 1992]. Kua kuku, the wooden anvil used in the second stage of kapa-making, were sometimes made of pūkiawe wood [Krauss 1993].

There are several mentions in the literature of ancient medicinal uses of pūkiawe. However, in researching these, I (Koebele) found all the reports of dubious value. For example, Bishop Museum's Hawaiian Ethnobotany Online Database states: "Leaves of the pūkiawe or ‘a‘ali‘i mahu are ground with salt, mixed with water, and inhaled through the nose to treat congestion (holopani upe nui) (Chun 1994:3–4)." Unfortunately, I do not have access to Chun's 1994 book, Native Hawaiian Medicines. However, by all accounts, it is simply a more recent translation and editing of Ka‘aiakamanu's and Akina's [1922] book, Hawaiian Herbs of Medicinal Value: Found Among the Mountains and Elsewhere in the Hawaiian Islands, and Known to the Hawaiians to Possess Curative and Palliative Properties Most Effective in Removing Physical Ailments, which can be read in full using the link provided in our References.

Within Ka‘aiakamanu & Akina [1922], there is no mention of pūkiawe and only one mention of ʻaʻaliʻi mahu. Under AA-LII MAHU or AA-LII MAKO'Ι, Ka‘aiakamanu describes rubbing the buds with salt between one's fingers and inhaling the fume to bring relief to a "hard cold in the head and headache." However, Ka‘aiakamanu description of the plant as a herb near the beach with leaves resembling naio and berries similar to popolo is hardly a close description of the pūkiawe I know. Further, neither Ka‘aiakamanu nor Akina provide a scientific name for "AA-LII MAHU or AA-LII MAKO'Ι" but only state "Specimen desired for proper identification."

There is a second mention of pūkiawe leaves being "used medicinally for cold or headache" in Pukui & Elbert [1986], where they reference Neal [1965], pages 663–4, as their source. However, Neal [1965] makes no mention of pūkiawe being used medicinally.

Modern

Today, the branch tips of pūkiawe are used medicinally for headaches (‘aki) [Leonard 2012]; a possible link to the confusion regarding ancient uses discussed above. Pūkiawe is also used in lei-making [McDonald & Weissich 2003].

Special Features and Information

General

Ericaceae is a large family of about 4,250 species within 124 genera that includes herbs, shrubs, and trees with a nearly worldwide distribution. Plants in this family are often found growing in acidic or infertile soils, with many having a symbiotic relationship with mycorrhizal fungi that help them extract nutrients from these soils. There are many well known and economically important members of the Ericaceae, such as: cranberry, blueberry, huckleberry, rhododendron (including azaleas), and some common heaths and heathers [WikipediA;Ericaceae].

Pūkiawe was previously considered to be in the Epiacris family (Epacridaceae), but today is classified as part of the Heath family (Ericaceae). Currently, the only other native Hawaiian members of Ericaceae are three endemic species of ʻōhelo (Vaccinium spp.) [Flora of the Hawaiian Islands].

Pūkiawe makes up a substantial portion of the berry diet of Hawai‘i's State bird, the nēnē, an endemic Hawaiian goose (Branta sandvicensis) [Black et al. 1994], and likely aids in the species' seed dispersal. Ranchers and others often regard pūkiawe as a "weed" since it is often common in pastures and rangelands and has "no forage value" [Haselwood & Motter 1983]. In the wild, it's common to see individual pūkiawe shrubs with differing colored fruit within a few feet of each other.

Hawaiian Name

Puakeawe, puakiawe, pukeawe, and pūpūkiawe all appear to be just spelling/pronunciation variations of pūkiawe [Pukui & Elbert 1986]. In addition to being the Hawaiian name for Leptecophylla tameiameiae, pūkiawe is also the Hawaiian name for the black-eyed Susan (Abrus precatorius) [Pukui & Elbert 1986], a slender branching vine best known for its seeds, which are used for lei, Buddhist rosaries, and decorative chains and bracelets [Neal 1965].

Kāwaʻu is a Hawaiian name used on Lānaʻi and Maui for this species [Wagner et al. 1990]. Kāwaʻu is also the Hawaiian name for the unrelated indigenous tree, Ilex anomala, and, on Maui, for the endemic and endangered tree, Mezoneuron kavaiense [Pukui & Elbert 1986].

Etymology

The genus name, Leptecophylla, was arbitrarily formed from the Greek words, lepteces, meaning "fine-pointed," and phyllum, meaning "leaf," referring to the fine, pungent tip on the leaves of most species [Weiller 1999].

The former genus name, Styphelia, is derived from the Greek word, styphelos, meaning "hard, harsh, or rough," referring to the coarse nature of plants in this genus [Wagner et al. 1990].

The species name, tameiameiae, is believed to be a Latinized transliteration honoring King Kamehameha I, or Kamehameha the Great (c.1758–1819), who established the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi in 1810 [Little & Skolmen 1989]. The spelling illustrates the difficulty of transcribing the spoken letters "k" and "t" before the language was written.

BPK