| Leptecophylla tameiameiae | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Ericales |
| Family: | Ericaceae |
| Genus: | Leptecophylla |
| Species: | L. tameiameiae |
| Binomial name | |
| Leptecophylla tameiameiae (Cham. & Schltdl.) C.M.Weiller | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Cyathodes tameiameiae Cham. & Schltdl. | |
Leptecophylla tameiameiae, known as pūkiawe or maiele in the Hawaiian language, is a species of flowering plant that is native to the Hawaiian and Marquesas Islands. The specific epithet honors King Kamehameha I, who formed the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. It grows as a tree up to 4.6 m (15 ft) tall in forests and as a shrub 0.9–3 m (3.0–9.8 ft) in height elsewhere. Its small needle-like leaves are whitish underneath, dark green above. The round berries range in color from white through shades of pink to red. Pūkiawe is found in a variety of habitats in Hawaii at elevations of 15–3,230 m (49–10,597 ft), including mixed mesic forests, wet forests, bogs, and alpine shrublands.
Ecology
Pūkiawe is a hardy, adaptive, and morphologically variable plant that occupies a variety of ecosystems, from dry forest up to alpine bogs and shrublands. Despite being common, it is difficult to propagate, taking months to years for seeds to germinate and growing very slowly.
The nēnē and other birds eat the berries of this shrub and thus distribute it.
Human Uses
Native Hawaiians would inhale ground leaves of the pūkiawe to treat congestion, and used the fruit to make lei.
Hawaiian nobility used the smoke of pūkiawe to modify their mana before interacting with people of lower caste. The bodies of executed criminals were cremated on pyres of pūkiawe to drive the mana from their bones and ensure their ghosts were harmless.
References
- ^ "Leptecophylla tameiameiae". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
- ^ Little Jr., Elbert L.; Roger G. Skolmen (1989). "Pūkiawe" (PDF). United States Forest Service.
- "Styphelia tameiameiae". Hawaiian Native Plant Propagation Database. University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
- ^ "Pukiawe". Hawaiian Ethnobotany Online Database. Bernice P. Bishop Museum. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
- ^ Hall, John B. (2008). A hiker's guide to trailside plants in Hawaiʻi. Honolulu, Hawaiʻi: Mutual Publishing. ISBN 978-1-56647-872-4.
- ^ Elliott, Daniela Dutra; Tamashiro, Shari Y. "Native Plants Hawaii - Viewing Plant : Leptecophylla tameiameiae". nativeplants.hawaii.edu. University of Hawai‘i. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
- Wagner, Warren L.; Herbst, Derral R.; Sohmer, S.H.; Mill, Susan W.; Wilson-Ramsey, Yevonn (1990). Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawaiʻi. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. pp. 590–591. ISBN 9780824811525.
External links
Media related to Leptecophylla tameiameiae at Wikimedia Commons
| Taxon identifiers | |
|---|---|
| Leptecophylla tameiameiae | |
| Styphelia tameiameiae |
|
| Cyathodes tameiameiae | |
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