Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 4, Number 10, 1 October 1987 — Book Review [ARTICLE]

Book Review

Plants and Flowers of Hawai'i By S.H. Sohmer and R. Gustafson An Underwater Guide to Hawai'i Ann Fielding and Ed Robinson University of Hawaii Press $14.95 eaeh There was a time before I was able to hike in the forest, to plant kalo or to dive for parrot fish in whieh I only knew a "basic" list of plants and marine life. However, there were a lot of names of plants and marine life that one would either hear or read about. This is especially true if you have ever read through the Hawaiian Dictionary by Pukui and Elbert or the Kumulipo Creation Chant. There are so many plants and marine life mentioned in these two books whieh most Hawaiians today may not know what they look like or their Hawaiian names. If any primary reason could be found it would probably be due to changes in our environment and life. The more urbanization takes plaee the less we see of our native forest and the more we become dependent upon markets than to fish ourselves. It has become difficult for most people, and in particular those who live on Oahu, to become familiar with the native plants and animals as they become harder to find in the "wild". The publication of Plants and Flowers and An Underwater Guide provide those who live here a ehanee to at least see what exists in the forest and in the oeean in vivid color. This is important for the plant world where it appears most of the plants photographed are rare and near extinction. There are several plants listed whieh would be considered to be native or indigenous, but whieh also have no given Hawaiian name. These plants are either so rare or had no real value that they did not receive a classification by Hawaiians. Eaeh book respectively discusses the different environments found on the land or the oeean. The book on Plants andFlowers has an interesting chapter on the study of plants in Hawaii in traditional and post- Western times. Eaeh book uses the scientific or Latin name, the Hawaiian equivalent and or the eommon English name with either a brief description of plant or marine life. The text is easy to read and the photographs are exquisite. The books were printed in Singapore, probably because of the color photographs, and the reproduction is excellent. These two books are well worth the pnee to purchase as a set of twins. However, it is sad and a sign of the times that it may be easier for us to leam and identify native plants and marine life from photographs instead of the open space. — MNC