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Mezoneuron kauaiense

(H.Mann) Hillebr. (1888)

This name is accepted

Kingdom: Viridiplantae Phylum: Magnoliophyta Class/Clade: Eudicot-Rosids Order: Fabales Family: Fabaceae Genus: Mezoneuron

kāwa‘u (Maui), kea (Maui), uhiuhi

Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Shrubs or trees 4–10 m tall.

Stems: Stems without prickles, bark dark gray, thick, rough and checked into rectangular or oblong plates. mature plans with a trunk diameter of 3 dm or more.

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves compound. Alternate. Leaves with 1–5 pairs of pinnae, leaflets 4–8 pairs per pinna, subopposite; Leaflets oblong, 2–5 cm long, (0.8–)1–2 cm wide. Apex subtruncate and usually emarginate. Base oblique, rounded. Lower surfaces and midrib rusty-tomentose. Petiolate. Stipules small, wart-like, subulate, ca. 2 mm long.

Flowers: Flowers in terminal racemes 5–15 cm long, the main axis rusty tomentose, pedicels 2.5–4 cm long, jointed in upper part bracts caducous. Flowers caesalpinaceous. Flowers apparently bisexual (perfect), up to 20 mm in diameter, bracteoles absent. Calyx pink to rose, glabrous, the upper and lateral lobes oblong, 10–13 mm long, the lower one concave, 16–18 mm long. Calyx tube short, 5-lobed, hood-like. Petals rose, becoming red toward the margins, the upper one obcordate, 6–8 mm long, the lower 2 obovate, If 12 mm long; stamens exserted. petals 5. Stamens exserted; filaments reddish pubescent in lower part; anthers red. Stamens 10, distinct, alternately longer and shorter. Ovary superior; ovules 3–5; style glabrous, incurved.

Fruit: Pods indehiscent; strongly flattened; obovate–oblong; 9–13 cm long; 4.5–6 cm wide; glaucous; with a longitudinal wing 0.9–1.3 cm wide near the upper margin. Seeds 2–4; pale brown; transversely arranged; ovoid; flattened; 1.8–2 cm long; 1.4–1.6 cm wide.

Ploidy: 2n = 22*

Habitat: Occurring in dry forest or mesic forest.

Elevation Range: 80–920 m.

Historical Distribution

Uses and Culture

USES

  • Extremely hard wood used to make weapons (Abbott 1992:110–1110), ‘o‘o or digging stick (Krauss 1993:25), house posts (Kamakau 1976:96; Krauss 1993:56), kapa beaters (Kamakau 1976:109: Krauss 1993:63), la‘au kahi wauke or a board for scraping wauke to make kapa (Krauss 1993:610); sled runners (for holoa) (Culliney and Koebele199:136). Also for fish hooks (Kamakau 1976:77; Krauss 1993:43); octopus or fish spears (Kamakau 1976:70: Krauss 1993:34,45). In the Ethnology Collection at Bishop Museum there is a post-contact example of the wood made into a bowl.

  • To purify the blood, combine and mash young leaves and leaf buds and bark of uhiuhi, along with the inner bark of hāpu‘u (Cibotium spp.), okolehao (usually of ki, Cordyline fruticosa), ‘ulu bark (Artocarpus altilis), ‘uhaloa tap roots (Waltheria indica) and sections of kōkea (white sugarcane, Saccharum officinarum). Strain mixture through ‘ahu‘awa (Cyperus javanicus) and drink three times a day (Chun 1994:249–250).

  • O'o - agricultural tool

  • Shark hook

  • Sled runner

PROPAGATION/CULTIVATION

  • Difficult. Greenish/khaki colored seeds sprout fastest; scarify, seedlings grow quickly, don't keep in pot for long or roots become potbound; repot in high cinder content for good drainage; responds well to fertilizer; plant out early; do not overwater (Culliney and Koebele 1999:136–139).

Natural History

Statewide Status

Endemic

Island Status

Kaua'i Endemic
O'ahu Endemic
Lana'i Extirpated
Maui Endemic
Hawai'i Endemic

Dispersal Agents


Pollinators

Bibliography

Name Published In: Fl. Hawaiian Isl.: 110 (1888)

Other References

Wagner et al. 1990:647 (K, O, WM, H [as Caesalpinia kavaiensis]); Wagner, Herbst, et al. 1999:648 (L); Bruneau et al. 2008:711/Wagner et al. 2012:37 (Syn. C. kavaiensis = M. kavaiense); Faccenda, Arthur, et al. 2025:182 (elaboration on addition of L record, spelling change to kauaiensis); Ken Wood pers. comm. 2025 (K†, 2020); PEPP 2025/Joel Lau pers. comm. 2025 (L†, 1990); PEPP 2025/Bishop s.n. BISH 55690 (M†, 1880)

Laau Hawaii (Abbott) p.12

Occurrences

SNo. Scientific Name Locality Habitat Basis of Record Recorded By Record Number Island Source Date
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