New-growth maile is used to make beautiful and fragrant lei. All parts of the plant contain coumarin, which is the substance that gives this plant its fragrance. IN THE GARDEN: MAILE
Latin name:
Alyxia oliviformisBy Rick Barboza
These days, most of the maile lei seen at weddings, proms, etc., come from a species from the Cook Islands where it grows on hardened, coastal sand deposits. It was also used to scent kapa and to decorate the altars of hula halau.
Description: Maile is shrubby liana that often twines like a vine but is more shrublike in appearance with highly variable dark, glossy green leaves. The flowers, which are small, number three to five in clusters, and range from light green to light yellow. Fruits are dark purple to black, and glossy. Sometimes they segment into two to three fruits.
HUIKU MAOLI OLA
Distribution: Maile is common in dry mesic forests on all the main Hawaiian islands except Kahoolawe and Niihau, where they probably occurred in the past.
Design tips and care: Plant maile in the ground as an accent around rocks or at the base of larger trees. It does best in partial shade but can tolerate full sun. Daily watering is fine until the plant is established, then water less. Sometimes ants bring in scales that appear as white or brown bumps on leaves and stems. If you can get rid of the ants, the rest of the pests should go away also.
Hawaiians recognized the highly variable shapes of maile and developed names to describe them. Some names are maile ha'i wale (brittle maile), maile lau li'i (small-leaved maile), maile lau nui (large-leaved maile), maile kaluhea (sweet maile) and maile pakaha (blunt-leaved maile).
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