Grow Aloha: Alaheʻe

Mike recounted a few experiences encountering alaheʻe in its natural habitat.

“Alaheʻe is a tree that I think everybody who likes native plants–or even those who don’t–should be growing,” said Mike. “It’s such a habitat building species. It’s still common in certain areas where it hasn’t been impacted.”

“It’s a member of the gardenia family,” added Mike. “There’s a bunch of native Rubiaceae in Hawaiʻi but alaheʻe is somewhat unique in that it grows from sea level all the way up into the mesic forest. It tends to get bigger and bigger the higher up in elevation you go. I remember seeing them out at Kaʻena Point, I was looking at these little shrubs, they were probably three or four feet tall and appeared stunted. I thought, “what is this?” And then I began seeing a few flowers and realized it’s alaheʻe, growing right at Kaʻena Point with the strong salt breeze and tradewinds. Prior to that I remember seeing them higher up in some of the northwest valleys here on Kauaʻi where they’re in mixed mesic forest and they’re 30 or 40 feet tall.”

“One of my favorite places for finding alaheʻe is here on Kauaʻi at a spot called Puʻu Pinao in ʻŌmaʻo. Once, we had hiked up from Lāwaʻi and we were crossing the ridge. There’s forests of paperbark and a bunch of things that the Territory of Hawaiʻi planted many years ago to reforest those mountains. But once in a while, you come across some native stuff. When we broke through the paperbark forest, we were in a zone where there was a little bit of native forest remaining–a bunch of ʻōhiʻa trees and some ferns. And then I turned to the left and there’s this huge alaheʻe stump. It looked like the tree had probably been broken during Hurricane Iniki, or possibly by several hurricanes. The stump of this tree was really, really big and it had these young saplings coming out of it. It would have been one of the biggest alaheʻe I’d ever seen had I been able to see that full sized tree.”

“It makes sense that Hawaiians liked to make weapons and tools out of alaheʻe wood, knowing how hard it is. When you see a stump like that, and realize how big they got, you can imagine how they were able to make some pretty useful tools out of trees that big.”

While alaheʻe wood was used to create tools and weapons, its fragrant white flowers also served an important role.

“The other thing that I really appreciate about alaheʻe is that it’s a white flowered tree with small, very fragrant white flowers, which means it was probably insect pollinated. You hear about our native forest birds a lot, and they are really important to preserve at this point because they’re on the verge of extinction. But there’s also a lot of insect pollinators in Hawaiʻi. They’re not as charismatic but they are really important to our ecosystems. Alaheʻe would have provided habitat and feeding opportunities for native insects, particularly native moths. Whenever a big alaheʻe is in full bloom, it’s really sweet and fragrant. You can smell it right away.”

“The most dominant I’ve ever seen alaheʻe was in a spot in Kalalau Valley. It almost looked like a wild coffee farm. That’s how much alaheʻe was growing. It was so dense it was hard to get through. The goats were eating all the lower leaves so there weren’t any leaves on the lower parts of these trees, but it was just amazing to see. The trees were tall, skinny, and growing side by side, which could only have happened because there were plenty of big trees around dropping millions of seeds every year so that all these plants could have germinated and created this really dense patch of alaheʻe. I’d never seen that anywhere else before.”

So for those who have never heard of or seen an alaheʻe tree before, what does it look like?

“It’s good to see live trees and make a mental image of it (versus looking at a photo online). You can go to a botanical garden or even some plant nurseries and look at what the plant actually looks like. But if you can’t do that, the next comparison I could make is mock orange. If you know what a mock orange hedge looks like. You know how the leaves are laid out on a stem of mock orange, alaheʻe is very similar in that way.”

“One of the things that a friend of mine on Oʻahu really pushes for is for people to use alaheʻe for Christmas trees. When they’re not grown too densely they do have a very nice shape to them. They have a sort of Christmas tree shape.”

Despite its beauty and significance, alaheʻe is rarely used in landscaping. Mike hopes to see that change.

“It would be really nice if people used it more in their landscapes and backyards because it’s a really easy tree to grow. It has the same kind of pest issues as gardenias, so you might have a problem with scales. But if you keep the tree healthy and pay attention to it and clean it off if you notice insect problems, it’s a pretty low maintenance tree.”

“It’s extremely drought, wind, and salt tolerant. And even though it is well adapted to dryland environments, it does grow in mesic conditions. I remember seeing alaheʻe on Sleeping Giant. It’s all over the lower parts of Mount Hāʻupu.”

“If we want to conserve our native insects and native ecosystems, then a patchwork of native plants in somebody’s backyard could be hugely beneficial. If everybody does this in their own yards, we’ll create sort of a native habitat–albeit patchy–but nevertheless a native habitat that would create corridors for native insects to thrive. And down the line, if they’re successful with the introduction of mosquitoes to supress the harmful mosquitos in Kokeʻe, perhaps our native honeycreepers will be able to come down lower. If we have patchworks of forests in areas where people live, that would create habitat for even honeycreepers to come and feed.”

“I’ve been to New Zealand a few times and it’s mind boggling to be in the middle of one of the big cities like Hamilton, and to have all their native birds flying around and feeding on plants and trees all around you. Here in Hawaiʻi, you never see forest birds flying around in somebody’s backyard, feeding on the nectar of native flowers like you see in New Zealand. If we could ever replicate that here in Hawaiʻi, that would be a dream come true. And if it’s happening in New Zealand, there’s no reason we couldn’t do it here once the mosquitos are under control.”

Mike hopes that, over time, more commercial properties will not only incorporate native plants into their landscaping but also embrace them with greater enthusiasm and excitement.

“I’ve been advocating for nearly 30 years for people to incorporate more native plants in their landscapes, construction projects, developments and so forth. Incorporating more native plants can help not only educate people, but also create that patchwork of native forest here in the lowlands. I would hope that developers all over the state would see the value in this. Some already do, but it’s not enough.”

“I would like to see them embrace native plants enthusiastically–not because it’s a requirement but because they know that it’s the right thing to do, and because they appreciate how beautiful native plants can be.”

Interviews were edited for clarity and length. Artwork by Carly Lake.