Hawaiian Alphabet Tree Garden Serves as an Resource to the O‘ahu Community
Posted on Sep. 1, 2023 / Native Species / Subscribe 0
By: Tina Lau & Alberto Ricordi
September 1, 2023
Nestled in the Urban Garden Center (UGC), there is a sanctuary for Hawaiian trees, shrubs, ferns, and ground-cover plants. Common and rare native trees are grouped by the first letter of their Hawaiian name. “A” - for alaheʻe … “I” - for ʻiliahi, … “L” for lama, “N” for nānū and more. Project manager Steve Nagano with consultant Dale Sato worked with collaborators to design and complete the garden in September 2000. The Hawaiian Alphabet Garden currently serves as an educational garden to promote Hawaiian values associated with the traditional use of plants, as a germplasm resource, and as a native landscaping example. Approximately 30 native plants can be found in this exemplary garden plot. Activities in this garden show how UGC is aligning with the University of Hawai‘i (UH) strategic goal to become a Native Hawaiian Place of Learning.
Educational Garden
This year, several school groups participated in activities led by the UH 4-H and Oʻahu Master Gardener programs. Kalihi Kai Elementary students were guided on a walk to see the type of plants that were once common in the lowland and mesic areas of the islands. When Polynesians arrived in the islands, they would have seen plants like those growing in the Hawaiian Alphabet Garden. The students touched the dark green alaheʻe (Canthium odoratum) leaves and some described them as “cool” and “smooth”. As they smelled the flowers they were told why Hawaiians named this plant alaheʻe, or “slippery like the squid” because the gentle fragrance slips along the wind. Some people promote alahe‘e as a Hawaiian Christmas tree because of the characteristic cone-shape of the canopy. When pruned, however, the tree makes an attractive backyard tree that can be complemented by other low-growing ground cover plants like ‘ilima (Sida fallax), or pala‘a ferns (Microlepia strigosa).
Figure 1. Pruned Alahe‘e trees
Traditional plant-use workshops
One of the indigenous plants in the garden is ‘ahu‘awa (Cyperus javanicus), used to make 2 or 3-ply cordage for making a hale, or Hawaiian house. Another cordage plant, hau (Hibiscus tiliaceus) is harvested and used by Master Cordage Maker Ken Ching to demonstrate traditional uses of native plants. Ken practiced his skill while making cordage for the Hawaii Loa voyaging canoe. He eagerly shared his knowledge with the newest class of O‘ahu Master Gardener students. In turn, they assisted Ken, his stepson Kippy, and stepgrandsons Amory and Kekala in a workshop for secondary school teachers organized by the Malama Learning Center to bring Hawai‘i trees into the classroom. The hands-on cordage preparation teaches patience and hand coordination. After skillfully scraping and pounding the freshly stripped hau tree bark, Kippy rolled the fibers on his leg to demonstrate the process of making cordage that could be used for lashing outriggers of canoes, net bags, and shark nooses.
Figure 2. Ken Ching leading a hau cordage-making workshop to train volunteers.
UH Cooperative Extension faculty collaborate with teachers to increase the impact of agricultural programs in schools. Faculty members can provide the techniques and supplies to supplement school curriculum and teachers have the expertise to integrate these techniques into their school curriculum to “enhance the learning experience for their students” according to secondary school teacher Justin Walczyk.
Figure 3. During the teacher workshop, Assistant Extension Agent, Joshua Silva, and Kekala Hanson demonstrated how small pieces of Hawaiian hardwood are used to calculate density.
Germplasm repository
The Urban Garden Center also provides stock plants for schools and community groups to develop native plant projects. Alaheʻe and lonomea (Sapindus oahuensis) seedlings from the Hawaiian ecosystem garden were collected to supplement a “Native Forest Restoration” project at Waiau Elementary School. Their propagation techniques led to great success with over 90% seedling survival. The fourth-grade and fifth-grade classes will be using their school garden for multidisciplinary projects focusing on native plants. The O‘ahu Master Gardener program will work with other schools to provide germplasm in the future.
Xeriscape demonstration garden
The wide selection of plants in the garden can help visitors envision how to design community or homeowner gardens. Visiting the gardens requires making a request through a UH faculty member or coming for a scheduled public event posted on the UGC website event page.
Easy to care for coastal ground cover plant pā‘ūohi‘iaka (Jacquemontia ovalifolia) beautifies the landscape with delicate lavender color flowers throughout the year and can be propagated easily by cuttings. ‘Uki ‘uki (Dianella sandwicensis) grows well in the ground or in containers and produces dark purple fruit with small black seeds that are easy to sprout. Flowering shrubs such as ‘a‘ali‘i (Dodonaea viscosa), kokio ke‘oke‘o (Hibiscus arnottianus), and pohinahina (Vitex rotundifolia) can provide texture and color.
Native plant garden landscaping can be modeled after natural coastal and lowland plant communities. Natural landscapes contain native plants growing side-by-side with dense coverage of the land and promote rainfall capture into the soil to recharge the aquifer. Planting native plants that are adapted to dry climates will require minimal amounts of water once they are established in the ground thereby reducing the need for irrigation and helping conserve water.
Figure 4. Prostrate and erect branching ‘ilima (Sida fallax) provide groundcover alongside an ‘iliahi (Santalum spp.) and kauila (Colubrina oppositifolia) tree, and a dense canopy of alahe‘e trees in the background.
Garden Mana
Other garden areas designed by volunteers incorporate the Hawaiian concept of “mana”, or power. When the UH Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences/Natural Resources and Environmental Management graduate students visited UGC last February, they collected native plant propagules and gleaned tips on specific methods of propagating native plants at the UGC gardens. The students took the propagules back to the Magoon station greenhouses and grew some for sale to the public in April.
Master Gardener Chai Blair-Stahn had chanted a welcome Oli to start the day and by the end of the trip everyone gathered again in the former Hawaiian Medicinal garden that was landscaped with rocks in the shape of a honu, or turtle, that symbolizes the mana of Hawaiian culture. A kukui and breadfruit tree stand deeply rooted upslope of the honu rock formation to transmit the intent of volunteers who designed the garden. The group sat on a circle of rocks symbolizing the head of the honu and shared their manaʻo, or thoughts, about how they benefited from this privileged meeting. Upon closure, this ʻōlelo noʻeau was chanted:
“I ola ‘oukou, i ola mākou nei.”
“May you all (the plants) live, so that we (humans) may also live.”
Safeguarding the Hawaiian plants and gardens contained in the Urban Garden Center gardens for their germplasm that moves the gardens towards creating a Native Hawaiian Place of Learning. It is a special place that contains the positive intent of all prior, current, and future faculty, staff, and volunteers. Educational activities will focus on the biological and cultural significance of these special plants in the garden landscape.
For more information, feel free to contact Tina Lau at [email protected] or Alberto Ricordi at [email protected].
Figure 5. Honu garden.
Figure 6. UH graduate students and Master Gardeners at the Honu garden
REFERENCES
BWS Native Plants for Water Conservation, Accessed 2 July 2023.
Lilleeng-Rosenberger, Kerin E. Native Hawaiian Plants: How to Grow, Cultivate, and Enjoy 25 Popular Plants. Mutual Publishing, 2018.
AUTHORS
Tina Lau, MS. - Jr. Extension Agent, O‘ahu County, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
Alberto Ricordi, D.Arch. - Landscape and Ornamental Crops Assist. Agent, O‘ahu County, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
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