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HAWAII NATURE NOTES
HALEAKALA PLANTS PLANT NOTES THE FERNS. The Sliding Sands Trail drops from White Hill on bare slopes of red and gray cinders. As it levels below Pun o Pele, a lush, green carpet spreads along the south wall of the crater. It is a surprise to discover that ferns compose the verdure, for several kinds find the shelter of the cliffs agreeable. Haleakala's KA' UPU, Polystichum haleakalense Brack., a rather coarse, low plant with scaly stems, grows among the shrubs. The pellucid polypody, 'AE, Polypodium pellucidum Kaulf., and the maidenhair spleenwort, 'IWA'IWA, Asplenium adiantum-nigrum L., grow here, but they are common elsewhere as well. Iwaiwa is a small plant with shiny, slender stems and stiff, triangular fronds that thrives in the brush. On Leleiwi Pali it is a tiny thing, clinging to the rocks. This fern is known in mountainous regions in many countries. Another maidenhair spleenwort, 'OWALI'I, Asplenium trichomanes L., makes its home on barren lava above 5,000 feet on the inner slopes of the crater. Its small, opposite, rounded or ovate frond segments, pinnae, grow on wiry stems that form dense clumps. Look for it along Halemauu Trail on Leleiwi Pali. It is found in the temperate zones and on high mountains in many parts of the world. Bracken, KILAU, Pteridium aquilinum var. decompositum (Gaud.) Tryon, a stiff cosmopolitan, is among the best-known ferns. It grows in grassy spots inside and outside the crater. Foraging pigs, seeking its tasty rootstocks, often uproot it in the forests. The young leaves of AMA'UMA' U, Sadleria cyatheoides Kaulf., add a touch of red along Halemauu Trail on Leleiwi Pali. At Paliku, several moisture-loving ferns grow on logs, rocks, and moss-covered trees. Large, dense ae are quite unlike the frail specimens on Leleiwi Pali. The following can be seen in damp spots and on tree trunks: Maui's paddle, 'EKAHA, Elaphoglossum reticulatum (Kaulf.) Gaud., with paddle-shaped blades 6-12 inches long; 'EKAHA-'AKOLEA, Pleopeltis thunbergiana Kaulf., a small fern with tough, pale, elliptico-oblong (paddle-shaped) fronds; and MOA, Psilotum complanatum Sw., belonging to a small group of tropical plants, PSILOTALES, which reproduce by spores, but are distinct from true ferns, clubmosses, and the better-known orders. Swordfern, NI'ANI'AU or 'OKUPUKUPU, Nephrolepis exaltata (L.) Schott., is widely distributed at Haleakala as it is elsewhere in Hawaii. Cliffbrake, KALAMOHO LAULI'I, Pellaea ternifolia (Cay.) Link, grows among rocks in dry, sunny locations at higher elevations above the park entrance and inside the crater. It is common. The bluish-green pinnae of this short, slender fern grow on opposite sides of the dark, wiry stems. They are cleft into three linear segments. THE NATIVE GRASSES. Several native grasses grow above the park entrance: Trisetum glomeratum (Kunth) Trin., Deschampsia australis forma haleakalensis Skottsb., and Agrostis sandwicensis Hillebr. The Trisetum, also common inside the crater, is called mountain pili, PILI being the lowland grass known in many tropical regions and used for thatching houses in Hawaii. The Hawaiian name for T. glomeratum is PILIUKA, upland pili. In some places it is also called HE'U PUEO, the hoot of an owl. All three grasses are tufted, i.e., bunch grasses. The Deschampsia has tough, wiry blades (leaves) with shiny, open panicles of flowers and seeds. The Agrostis has stiffly upright blades and culms (jointed stems) with spike-like panicles. The pili has flat blades usually covered with soft hairs. The panicles are contracted or spike-like. THE SEDGES. Fig. 1. Sedges are generally grasslike wind-pollinated herbs that grow in tufts or bunches. They are often the dominant plants in cold marshes, especially in the Arctic. They have little economic value and grazing animals find them unpalatable. Some have tough, pliable stems that are woven into mats and baskets; some have fruiting spikes that are attractive in dry bouquets. Most have 3-angled stems around which the blades are ranked. The inconspicuous, green flowers are crowded in tight, flattened spikes, often grouped on top of a slender, grasslike stem. Hawaii has a dozen or more native genera with many of its species widespread in the world.
The species common on the upper slopes of Haleakala and on the crater floor, Gahnia gaudichaudii Steud., bears shiny, ebony fruits. These can dangle, suspended by the wilted, threadlike stamens for more than a year from the fruiting stalk. Another sedge, Carex macloviana subfusca (W. Boott) Kukenth., grows in clumps along the south wall. The fruiting stalks bear cylindrical or ovoid clusters of 4-9 spikelets, each 1/2-1 inch long. This sedge grows from Lapland and Greenland to northern South America, but in Hawaii it has been found only on Haleakala and Kohala Mountains above 4,000 feet. The Hawaiian variety was first described from a specimen collected at Lake Tahoe, California. The interesting Oreobolus furcatus H. Mann, mentioned as occurring on West Maui, also grows in Koolau Gap. RUSH, Luzula hawaiiensis (O. Ktze.) Buch. A visitor brought me a small tufted plant with grass-like leaves covered with soft, silky hairs. He was all excited, believing he had found a young silversword on the cinder flats near the summit of Mt. Hualalai. The plant was the endemic rush that lives in wet places above 3,000 feet in the mountains of Maui, Hawaii, and Kauai. In Haleakala Crater, I found it on Leleiwi Pali and near Paliku, where others might mistake it for an immature silversword or greensword. The Hawaiian general name for grasses, sedges, and rushes is MAU'U. PAINIU, Astelia degeneri Skottsb. This plant is reported by Degener to be growing within the crater.19
MAU'U-LA'ILI, Sisyrinchium acre H. Mann. A native member of the Iris Family with grass-like leaves that grows on old lava flows between altitudes of 3,500 and 7,500 feet on Maui and Hawaii. It is an attractive plant that rarely exceeds 12 inches high. In July and August it bears yellow flowers 3/4 inch across that last only a few hours. In the crater it may be found in Koolau and Kaupo Gaps. The leaves, bound tightly around the wrists and ankles, stain the skin a blue color that lasts several days. This stain was regarded as proof that a person had been to the crater. A number of other species of the genus are mainland wildflowers commonly called blue-eyed grass. ORCHIDS. Fig. 2. The Orchid Family of over 15,000 species is second only to the Composite Family in size, yet only three species of three genera are native in Hawaii, a land connected in thought with an exuberance of gay orchids. Moreover, the three endemic species are characterized by small size, relative rarity, and inconspicuous flowers. Twayblade, Liparis hawaiiensis H. Mann, grows in open woods on the ground and on moss-covered trees on the flanks of the volcano and at Paliku. The rarest of the three natives, Habenaria holochila Hillebr., has been found growing 1-2-1/2 feet high in deep moss in fog-swept Koolau Gap. It bears its dull-greenish, inconspicuous orchids on a tall, many-flowered spike.
'ALA 'ALAWAINUI, Peperomia sp. A small herb with succulent leaves found at Paliku. It is a member of the Pepper Family, Piperaceae, to which AWA, Piper methysticum, belongs. There are many Peperomias native to Hawaiian forests. Some have leaves with gay red undersides. SANDALWOOD, 'ILIAHI, Santalum haleakalae Hillebr. Fig. 3. A small but striking tree found above the park entrance, in Koolau Gap, and along the Kaupo Trail below Paliku. It has leathery, dark green leaves so that it stands out in the vegetation and is readily distinguished from afar. In mid-summer, corymbs of four-pointed, deep-red or vermillion flowers appear on the ends of branches. The dry heartwood has the fragrance which is associated with the name sandalwood. Degener tells the detailed story of sandalwood trade that flourished in the islands for fifty years beginning in 1790.20
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http://www.nps.gov/hawaii-notes/vol6-59k.htm
24-Mar-2006
