Tropical Plant Database - Plant Details

Diospyros sandwicensis is a small, slow-growing tree about 2-15 meters tall with a narrow to spreading canopy. The bark is black and rather smooth on small trunks, but rough on large old trunks. The mature leaves are dark green but the new leaves are reddish in color and may have long hairs on both the upper and lower surface. The male (staminate) and female (pistillate) flowers are borne on different plants (dioecious) with male flowers in clusters of threes and female flowers being solitary. The flowers are small with greenish-white petals and are easy to miss even when the tree is flowering because of their small size and the presence of a persistent, green calyx which partially encloses the petals. Lama produces edible bright yellow to reddish orange fruit that contain 1 to 3 brown seeds.

(Wagner, Warren L., Darrel R. Herbst, and S. H. Sohmer. 1990. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawai'i, Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu, Hawai`i)

A sacred enclosure made of Lama wood was called a "Palama", and the sick were placed inside for healing. Lama wood was also used as medicine mixed with other plants including Kukui and Ulu and applied to sores.

Lama was used traditionally for construction by native Hawaiians as its wood is close-grained, hard and durable. Both the trunk and the main branches were large enough to be used as the framework of poles in house construction. In special houses called moku hale or hale lau lama the posts, rafters, and thatching sticks were constructed from lama wood. In these hale the chiefs made offerings or sacrifices to a god in atonement for wrongdoing. The trunk of lama was used in construction of the tide gates of fishponds because of its durability. The Hawaiian word lama can be translated as “light” or “lamp”. A piece of lama wood was placed on the altar (kuahu) of hālau hula because of its association with “enlightenment” and was considered to represent the goddess of hula, Laka.
(Abbott, I A. 1992. Lā`au Hawii`i: Traditional Hawaiian Uses of Plants. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu, Hawai`i.)
(Medeiros, A. C. , C. F. Davenport, C. G. Chimera, Auwahi Ethnobotany of a Hawaiian Dry Forest.)

Diospyros sandwicensis is a Hawaiian endemic plant and is found on all the main islands except Kaho'olawe and Ni'ihau. Lama grows at elevations ranging from sea level to 1,220 meters in dry to moist or sometimes wet forests. Lama is a dominant plant species in tropical dry forests which are found on the leeward side of each of the major Hawaiian islands in regions that receive only 500-2,000 mm of rain annually. These forests contain a rich diversity of native plants but are now restricted to small forest fragments as a result of land-use competition and the impact of introduced non-native plants and animals.

(Wagner, Warren L., Darrel R. Herbst, and S. H. Sohmer. 1990. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawai'i, Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu, Hawai`i)

The edible bright reddish or yellow fruit of lama was used by ancient Hawaiians for food. The fruit of a related species, Diospyros kaki, the Japanese persimmon, is widely cultivated and consumed as a food product throughout the world.

The latin name Diospyros comes from the greek words "Dios" meaning divine and "pyros" meaning grain, literally translated as “celestial food”. The Hawaiian word lama can be translated as “light” or “lamp”. A piece of lama wood was placed on the altar (kuahu) of hālau hula because of its association with “enlightenment” and was considered to represent the goddess of hula, Laka.

Diospyros sandwicensis is an endemic plant found only in Hawai'i.

We currently have 59 herbarium specimens for Diospyros sandwicensis in our collection. Click on any specimen below to view the herbarium sheet data.

• 036669 - collected by E. Christophersen in 1931
• 003850 - collected by Derral Herbst in 1970
• 003855 - collected by John J. Fay in 1973
• 033277 - collected by Carolyn Corn in 1977
• 003854 - collected by Tim Flynn in 1981
• 014204 - collected by David Palumbo in 1981
• 003852 - collected by Moses Bergau in 1981
• 004891 - collected by David Palumbo in 1983
• 003849 - collected by Tim Flynn in 1985
• 003851 - collected by Tim Flynn in 1985
• 004890 - collected by Tim Flynn in 1986
• 004889 - collected by David H. Lorence in 1987
• 004888 - collected by David H. Lorence in 1987
• 004893 - collected by David H. Lorence in 1987
• 004892 - collected by David H. Lorence in 1987
• 003848 - collected by David H. Lorence in 1987
• 004887 - collected by David H. Lorence in 1987
• 003847 - collected by Tim Flynn in 1988
• 004894 - collected by Ken Marr in 1988
• 010777 - collected by Chipper Wichman in 1989
• S047214 - collected by Steve Perlman in 1992
• S047215 - collected by Steve Perlman in 1994
• 033708 - collected by David H. Lorence in 1996
• 033707 - collected by David H. Lorence in 1996
• 033709 - collected by K. R. Wood in 1996
• 036799 - collected by K. R. Wood in 1999
• 046029 - collected by K. R. Wood in 2005
• 062318 - collected by K. R. Wood in 2006
• 058577 - collected by Natalia Tangalin in 2006
• 055812 - collected by Natalia Tangalin in 2007
• 055864 - collected by Natalia Tangalin in 2008
• 055329 - collected by Clay Trauernicht in 2008
• 048983 - collected by Clay Trauernicht in 2008
• 053248 - collected by K. R. Wood in 2008
• 048946 - collected by Clay Trauernicht in 2008
• 056410 - collected by Natalia Tangalin in 2009
• 068925 - collected by Natalia Tangalin in 2009
• 067135 - collected by Natalia Tangalin in 2011
• 070568 - collected by Natalia Tangalin in 2012
• 070483 - collected by Natalia Tangalin in 2012
• 065886 - collected by Natalia Tangalin in 2012
• 070552 - collected by Natalia Tangalin in 2012
• 075868 - collected by Natalia Tangalin in 2012
• Unassigned - collected by Natalia Tangalin in 2014
• 069559 - collected by K. R. Wood in 2014
• 088967 - collected by Natalia Tangalin in 2014
• 092977 - collected by Natalia Tangalin in 2014
• Unassigned - collected by Natalia Tangalin in 2015
• 093057 - collected by Jesse Adams in 2015
• 071474 - collected by K. R. Wood in 2016
• 076258 - collected by K. R. Wood in 2016
• 084100 - collected by Susan M. Deans in 2016
• 076549 - collected by K. R. Wood in 2017
• 077839 - collected by Seana Walsh in 2017
• S078043 - collected by Seana Walsh in 2017
• Unassigned - collected by Natalia Tangalin in 2018
• 089012 - collected by Kevin Faccenda in 2021
• 086829 - collected by K. R. Wood in 2021
• 092700 - collected by Jackson Jablonski in 2023