Key Characters:
Growth Form: Trees up to 15 m tall, bark reddish, papery, shallowly fissured.
Stems: Trunk and branches sparsely armed with conical prickles.
Roots:
Leaves: Leaves compound (pinnately trifoliolate). Alternate, deciduous (usually absent when flowering). Blades 4–10 cm long, 6–15 cm wide; terminal leaflet deltate to rhombic–oblate, wider than long, lateral leaflets ovate, 4–8 cm long and 4–9 cm wide. Leaves terminal leaflet apex obtuse to rounded, lateral leaflets apices acute to rounded. Base of terminal leaflet truncate or rounded, base of lateral leaflets asymmetrical (cuneate on 1 side, rounded on the other). Upper surfaces glabrous; lower surfaces densely stellate–tomentose. Leaflet margins entire. Petioles of terminal leaflet 8–15 cm long, petiolules of lateral leaflets ca. 5 mm long. Stipules subulate, ca. 5 mm long, deciduous, paired glandular stipels on petiole below terminal and lateral leaflets.
Flowers: Flowers in inflorescence axis horizontal, 10–15 cm long, flowers on distal ½ only. Flowers papilionaceous, bisexual (perfect); pedicels 3–10 mm long. Calyx fusiform in bud, 1.5–2 cm long, with 5 apical knobs, splitting open on dorsal side as corolla emerges, thus becoming spathaceous and thrust beneath corolla, thin and chartaceous, densely brownish felty stellate tomentose. Corolla usually orange, sometimes yellow, white, or pale green (all colors present in some populations), standard broadly ovate to elliptic, clavate, reflexed and erect, 4–5 cm long (incl. claw) and equally wide, wings elliptic, somewhat hooded, 1.5–2 cm long, 0.8–1 cm wide, keel petals distinct, elliptic, hooded, slightly shorter than wings and about as wide. corolla standard much larger than wings and keel. Stamens 10, monadelphous, 4–5 cm long, the adaxial stamen distinct in upper ⅔, the other 9 distinct in upper ¼. Ovary superior, stipitate, 2–2.5 cm long, stellate pubescent; style filiform, glabrous, 2–2.5 cm long; stigma capitate.
Fruit: Pods pendent; subligneous; 1–3–seeded; slightly constricted between the seeds; endocarp papery. Seeds red to yellowish orange; ca. 1.5 cm long; ca. 1 cm wide; hilum black; persistent on pods long after maturity.
Ploidy: 2n = 42*
Habitat: Common in dry forest.
Elevation Range:
up to 600 m.
Light weight wood used for surfboards (Malo 1951:21, 223), outriggers (booms & floats) (Abbott 1992:82; Malo 1951:126), and fish floats (Degener 1930:215), burnt to make paint (Abbott 1992:81); seeds for lei (Abbott 1992:125) and kupee ("hula leglets", Kamehameha Schools 1994:29).
The flowers of the wiliwili are used to treat venereal disease. A tea from the pounded bark is combined with nioi (chili pepper, Capsicum annuum), another herb, and ‘awa (Piper methysticum), in the morning it is followed with koali (Ipomoea spp.) (Akana 1922:74; Chun 1998:52–53).
[I] Ka wiliwili o Kaupe'a. The Wiliwili Grove of Kaupe‘a. In ‘Ewa, O‘ahu, where homeless ghosts wander among the trees. [II] Pua ka wiliwili nanahu ka mano; pua ka wahine u‘i nanahu ke kanawai. When the wiliwili blooms, the sharks bite; when a beautiful woman blossoms the law bites. A beautiful woman attracts young men, "sharks", who fight over her. The law steps in to keep the rivalry from getting out of hand (the law "bites"). It is said that the wiliwili blooms during the mating season of sharks, and that is when they will "bite". This saying is also part of the Hula Mano.
Three famous wiliwili trees near Puhi‘ula Cave (at Pa‘ula in Ka‘u, Hawai‘i Island). These were three sisters (see moolelo). One of the few native trees that still survives on goat- and bomb-ravaged Kaho‘olawe. Section of McCully called Wiliwili. Wiliwilinui Ridge in Wai‘alae. The Wiliwili Grove of Kaupe‘a in ‘Ewa, O‘ahu.
Endemic
IUCN:Vulnerable
Laukahi: The Hawai'i Plant Conservation Network:Species of Conservation Importance
Name Published In: Fl. Hawaiiensis 169c: s.p. (1932)
Other References
Wagner et al. 1990:672 (Ni, K, O, Mo, L, M, Ka, H); Staples & Herbst 2005:300, 315 (KEY), 316 (DESCR)
SNo. | Scientific Name | Scientific Name Authorship | Locality | Habitat | Basis of Record | Recorded By | Record Number | Island | Source | Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Erythrina sandwicensis | O.Deg. | Along road from Waimea to Hawi; about 100m downslope from road near 4 mile marker | Dry pasture with scattered Erythrina trees | PRESERVED_SPECIMEN | Price, J.P. | 8 | Hawaii | BISH | 7/21/2000 |
2 | Erythrina sandwicensis | O.Deg. | north kona district. puuwaawaa. 30.8 mi north of intersection of kealakekua rd and belt rd | PRESERVED_SPECIMEN | ozaki, e.t. | collector number: 1331 | Hawaii | BISH | 12/28/1954 | |
3 | Erythrina sandwicensis | O.Deg. | Coral Flats, near cement basement | PRESERVED_SPECIMEN | Woolford, H.A. | s.n. | Oahu | BISH | 7/5/1957 | |
4 | Erythrina sandwicensis | O.Deg. | Lawai, Kauai. Pacific Tropical Botanical Garden. (Growing at PTBG's "satellite", Kahanu Garden near Hana, Maui) | PRESERVED_SPECIMEN | Neill, D. | 5285 | Kauai | BISH | 6/22/1982 | |
5 | Erythrina sandwicensis | O.Deg. | puna, ~1/4 mi. e of wahaula heiau | 200 yds. from rocky coast, aa lava | PRESERVED_SPECIMEN | stone, b.c. | collector number: 2892 | Hawaii | BISH | 6/21/1959 |
6 | Erythrina sandwicensis | O.Deg. | Kaa | PRESERVED_SPECIMEN | Munro, G.C. | 358 | Lanai | BISH | ||
7 | Erythrina sandwicensis | O.Deg. | lualualei, central valley | gulches, with kukui | PRESERVED_SPECIMEN | takeuchi, w.n. | collector number: 3303 | Oahu | BISH | 1/8/1987 |
8 | Erythrina sandwicensis | O.Deg. | nonopapa | Thicket on dry flat | PRESERVED_SPECIMEN | st.john, h. | collector number: 22769 | Niihau | BISH | 8/13/1947 |
9 | Erythrina sandwicensis | O.Deg. | Keomuku Rd, along, 5.3 mi from Koele | arid pasture, erosion gullies | PRESERVED_SPECIMEN | Herbst, D.R. | 5291 | Lanai | BISH | 4/30/1975 |
10 | Erythrina sandwicensis | O.Deg. | West Maui | PRESERVED_SPECIMEN | Mann, H. | 394 | Maui | BISH | 2/6/1905 |
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
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