Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 34, Number 3, 1 Malaki 2017 — KUKUI [ARTICLE]

KUKUI

The white-blossomed kukui has been Hawai'i's offieial state tree since 1959 but a proposal before the Legislature offers up a new contender: 'ōhi'a lehua. Sen. Gil Riviere, chairman of the Committee on Water and Land, introduced Senate Bill 697 to give more attention to 'ōhi'a lehua, the flowering evergreen currently threatened by a blight that has already claimed hundreds of thousands of 'ōhi'a trees on Hawai'i Island. In addition to raising awareness of Rapid 'Ōhi'a Death, the proposal makes a number of other arguments for elevating 'ōhi'a's designation to state tree. The tree is endemic to Hawai'i and found nowhere else. It's also the longest living tree in Hawai'i's forests and covers more than a million acres statewide. And, according to the bill, no other plant is mentioned more in Hawaiian poetry, song and chant. By contrast, the kukui tree is native to Malaysia. Also known as the candlenut tree, kukui is believed to be a "eanoe plant" brought to Hawai'i by ancient Polynesians. The 1959 Legislature designated it the state tree for its "muhiplieity of uses to the ancient Hawaiians for light, fuel, medicine, dye, and ornament, as well as the distinctive beauty of its lightgreen foliage whieh embellishes many of the slopes of our beloved island." Whieh do you think represents Hawai'i better: kukui or 'ōhi'a lehua? I — Treena Shapi.ro