Hawai’i’s plants are known for losing their defenses over time due to a lack of predators. Thus, we have mintless mints and a stingless stinging nettle. One other plant in this category is the Hawaiian holly. In Europe, holly was adopted as a symbol of Christ’s crown of thorns because of its spiny leaves. That holly has the scientific name of Ilex acquifolium. Our native holly, whose Hawaiian name is kawa’u, has the scientific name of Ilex anomala (which is Greek for unusual). Instead of spiny leaves, there is a smooth outer edge with just the tip showing a point. The rest of the leaves are stiff and leathery, with a glossy top and dull underside. A distinctive trait is the dense network of veins which can be seen on close inspection. (And while you’re looking closely at the leaves, you might check the underside for happy-faced spiders that seem to prefer good-sized native leaves.) Unlike the European holly, which has white flowers with red fruit, kawa’u has white flowers with black fruit. These fruits appear in clusters among the leaves.
To find kawa’u, look in wet to mesic forests, at about a 1,000 to 5,000 foot elevation. It can be quite abundant in some places. It is found in the form of a shrub or tree on all the Hawaiian islands, as well as our cousin islands, the Marquesas and Tahiti.
Comments