| Māmaki | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Rosales |
| Family: | Urticaceae |
| Genus: | Pipturus |
| Species: | P. albidus |
| Binomial name | |
| Pipturus albidus (Hook. & Arn.) A.Gray ex H.Mann | |
Pipturus albidus, known as māmaki (sometimes waimea, for its resemblance to olomea) in Hawaiian and known as Waimea pipturus in English, is a species of flowering plant in the nettle family, Urticaceae, that is endemic to Hawaiʻi. It inhabits coastal mesic, mixed mesic, and wet forests at elevations of 60–1,830 m (200–6,000 ft). Māmaki is a small tree that reaches a height of 9 m (30 ft) and a trunk diameter of 0.3 m (0.98 ft).
Uses
Medicinal
Native Hawaiians made a treatment for illnesses known as ʻea and pāʻaoʻao from the fruit. They also combined fresh māmaki leaves with hot stones and spring water to produce herbal tea that was an effective treatment for general debility. Tea made from the leaves of this plant have antiviral properties, antibacterial properties, and antioxidants such as catechins, chlorogenic acid, and rutin It also contains anticancer and chemopreventive properties. Today, packages of dried māmaki leaves are commercially produced.
Non-medicinal
The bast fibres were used by Native Hawaiians to make kapa (bark cloth) and kaula (rope).
Ecology
Pipturus albidus is known to attract the Kamehameha butterfly (Vanessa tameamea) and Koa butterfly (Udara blackburni) as its nectar is sweet. The Kamehameha butterfly eggs thrived on this plant in regard to both size and performance.
References
- "Hawaiian-English Dictionary". University of Hawaii Press. 2003. Archived from the original on 2012-12-14. Retrieved 2011-10-12.
- NRCS. "Pipturus albidus". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 6 October 2015.
- ^ Little Jr., Elbert L.; Roger G. Skolmen (1989). "Mamaki" (PDF). Common Forest Trees of Hawaii (Native and Introduced). United States Forest Service. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-09-18. Retrieved 2009-11-29.
- ^ "mamaki, mamake, waimea (P. albidus on Kauai & P. ruber)". Hawaiian Ethnobotany Database. Bernice P. Bishop Museum. Retrieved 2024-04-17.
- ^ Sun, Alanna; Kondratyuk, Tamara; Wongwiwatthananukit, Supakit; Sun, Dianqing; Chang, Leng Chee (March 2022). "Investigation of Antioxidant, Anticancer, and Chemopreventive Properties of Hawaiian Grown Māmaki tea ( Pipturus albidus )". Natural Product Communications. 17 (3). doi:10.1177/1934578X221080945. ISSN 1934-578X.
- Krauss, Beatrice H.; Martha Noyes (2001). Plants in Hawaiian Medicine. Bess Press. pp. 85–88. ISBN 978-1-57306-128-5.
- Scott, James A. (1992). The Butterflies of North America: A Natural History and Field Guide. Stanford University Press. p. 399. ISBN 978-0-8047-2013-7.
- "Pipturus albidus". Plant Pono. Retrieved 2024-12-09.
- Bogner, Kari K.; Haines, William P.; Kim, Jorma; Drake, Donald R.; Barton, Kasey E. (2024). "Endemic island plant–herbivore interactions: Kamehameha butterfly (Nymphalidae) and Hawaiian Urticaceae". Biotropica. 56 (1): 149–161. doi:10.1111/btp.13292. ISSN 1744-7429.
External links
Media related to Pipturus albidus at Wikimedia Commons- "Pipturus albidus". Hawaiian Native Plant Propagation Database. University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
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