Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 39, Number 10, 1 October 2022 — Striking Silhouettes 'Ohe Ma Kai ('Ohe Kukuluae'o) [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Striking Silhouettes 'Ohe Ma Kai ('Ohe Kukuluae'o)

<NĀ MEAKANU 'ĀPA'AKUMA O HAWAI'I NEI ENDEMIC PLANTS OF HAWAI'I

By Bobby Camara

So reminiscent of 'ōlopo, 'ohe mo koi beor grope-like clusters of huo. - Photos: 1. B. Friday

Atree we see growing on arid leeward lowlands of our islands, except for Kaua'i and Kaho'olawe, 'ohe ma kai (Polyscias sandwicenis ) is distinctive. Unlike its endemic relatives olapa, 'ohe ma uka, and the invasive octopus tree, its leaves fall off during summer, leaving striking silhouettes of thick trunks and tangles of branches. Close relatives are found in Sāmoa, the Marquesas, and the Society Islands. An alternate name is 'ohe kukuluae'o, apparently a reference to its wood being used to fashion stilts for recreation, though little is known of that practice. Too, there are ae'o, or kukuluae'o, endemic endangered waterbirds with long stilt-like legs often observed foraging in shallow brackish ponds. Swampy Kukuluae'o, named after these birds, and mentioned by "ĪT (helow) was ma uka of Ala Moana, between Kālia and the pumping station at Keawe Street. Lands ma kai are man-made. ■

Stout trunk seemingly placed in 'o'ō on Moui. - Photo: Forest and Kim Starr

" Perhaps it would be weīl tofollow the Honolulu trails ofabout 1810, that they may be known, and to determine whether the houses were many or few. Let us I begin looking. The trailfrom Kalia led to Kukuluaeo, then along the graves ofthose who died in the srnallpox epidemic ofl853..." - Historian John Papa 'ī'ī

lS3€ Pink-legged ae'o wade through brackish pools. - Photo: Lynn Griffiths