Ever Green
By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
Erin Purple shows the plastic bag of spaghum
moss used to air-layer an Erythrina stricta, since
cuttings of the plant don't take. Even with air-layering,
Erythrinas are difficult to propagate.
The Waimea Arboretum at Waimea Valley Adventure Park has an Erythrina collection that rivals any in the world, and has specimens representing three-quarters of the world's Erythrina species. A first reaction might be, "Big deal, like the biggest collection of Barbie doll shoes or match books." But a major pharmaceutical company recently sent a research team to Waimea to study the Erythrina collection as a possible source of a medical cure. Wiliwili family
draws attention"It isn't simply the extent of the collection, but the fact that there are very few other places in the world where they can study these plants. They grow in the less politically stable areas of Africa and South America, and those forests are being cut down for timber and firewood," said Erin Purple, a horticulturist on the staff of the arboretum. "Also, every plant in the gardens here is labeled so that you know its botanical name, its common name, where it came from and if it is endangered. You won't find that in any forest."
Erythrina is a genus within the pea family, often recognized by their flowers, which appear to have wings. The most familiar tree here is the native wiliwili, found in the dry areas of all the islands. It thrives in Koko Crater as the remnants of an ancient grove, at Kaena Point and on the dry lava flows of Kona and Kau, places where few plants can survive. The name, wiliwili, means "to twist" in Hawaiian, and refers to the circular action of the seed pods as they release their seeds.
The tree has gnarled, wide-spreading branches, long-stemmed leaves, and flowers ranging in color from red to pale green and white. The early Hawaiians used the pale, lightweight wood for surfboards and outriggers for canoes. The wood was dried, seasoned and then shaped. It was sanded with increasingly fine coral, then with sharkskin. Finally it was stained black with kukui nut soot and polished with coconut oil. The claw-shaped flowers were used in lei and the small, shiny red seeds that give the genus its name, are strung as necklaces. Erythrina comes from the Greek word for "red."
The arboretum may own the first Erythrina cubensis in the state, cultivated from seeds sent from Cuba by Fidel Castro for reasons not entirely understood. It's doing fine.
Other Erythrinas frequently used in landscaping here are the coral tree from Brazil, with velvety dark red flowers blooming near the ends of the branches, and the tiger's claw from India and southern Polynesia, with foot-long clusters of scarlet flowers. The tiger's claw is used in India to shade the coffee shrubs and to support the black pepper vines, both important crops in the country. Like most Erythrinas, these trees have thorns.
Even the native species has thorns, which is unusual as most native Hawaiian plants are without natural protection. Since there were no grazing animals here before European contact, plants didn't need protection, Purple said, so never developed any.
According to Purple, most Erythrinas won't grow from cuttings. "They aren't vigorous plants, and they don't establish themselves easily. We do better by air-layering them, and even then only one out of four takes," he said.
The process involves packing wet sphagnum moss around a node on a short branch and wrapping it in plastic secured by tape or string. If it works, roots will grow from the node. The branch is cut off with the new roots and planted.
"Sphagnum moss is amazing stuff," Purple said. "You can keep the damp moss in a bag for months without its rotting or decaying. During the Civil War, it was used for dressings on wounds." Air-layering can be used to propagate many woody plants, and is explained in most gardening texts.
Honey creepers, a now almost extinct breed of native birds, had long curved beaks to reach the nectar in the native Erythrina, Purple said, but the little white-eyes that fly all over the garden have found a short cut. "Their beaks aren't long enough to get down into the center of the flower, so they nip a little hole in the side of the flower and drink from there."
The garden is also home to a small flock of endangered Hawaiian gallinules, long-legged moorhens that live in marshes. "We had two pairs in cages, and they were constantly fighting, so we got permission to let them out. They began nesting on the little islands in our lake, and we are now seeing the fourth generation," Purple said.
The Erythrina collection grows on a hillside in the Waimea arboretum. The paths run through 150 acres of the park, through 35 separate gardens. These are divided by variety, the Erythrina or hibiscus or ginger collections; or by area, the Fijian or Malaysian or native Hawaiian collections, and it is a beautiful walk.
There will be a plant and craft sale at the park a week from tomorrow, with free admission to the sale area. The annual event is sponsored by the Waimea Arboretum Foundation and the North Shore Outdoor Circle.
20th Annual Plant and Craft Sale
Where: Waimea Valley Adventure Park, 59-864 Kamehameha Highway, opposite Waimea Bay
Gardening Calendar in Do It Electric!
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Evergreen by Lois Taylor, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu 96802.
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Evergreen by Lois Taylor is a regular Friday feature of the
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