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Psydrax odorata

(G.Forst.) A.C.Sm. & S.P.Darwin (1988)

This name is accepted

Kingdom: Viridiplantae Phylum: Magnoliophyta Class/Clade: Eudicot-Asterids Order: Gentianales Family: Rubiaceae Genus: Psydrax

alahe‘e [alahee], ʻō‘he‘e [ohee], walahe‘e [walahee]

Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Shrubs or small trees 3–6(–15) m tall.

Stems:

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves simple. Opposite. Blades narrowly to broadly elliptic, elliptic–ovate, or lanceolate to ovate, 2.8–9 cm long, 0.9–4.1 cm wide. Apex obtuse to rounded, sometimes emarginate. Base cuneate. Surfaces glabrous, glossy on upper surface; lower surfaces less so or dull, somewhat thickened and coriaceous. Margins entire. Petioles 0–1 cm long. Stipules 2–5 mm long, interpetiolar, deltoid to ovate or lanceolate, lacking adaxial indument, apex abruptly acuminate to caudate, valvate in bud, usually bearing mucilate-producing colleters on inner surface that aid in protection of the growing shoot tip.

Flowers: Flowers 4- or 5-merous, numerous in corymbose cymes, cymes 2.5–3.5 cm long, pedicels 1–3 mm long, the bracts and bracteoles usually inconspicuous; hypanthium broadly ellipsoid to nearly hemispherical. Flowers bisexual (perfect) or functionally pistillate, protandrous, often heterostylous; fragrant, insect-pollinated. Calyx ca. 2 mm long, minutely dentate, limb truncate to dentate, 4-5-lobed with open aestivation, usually shorter than hypanthium, lobes usually small, rudimentary or absent. Corolla white, 4–6-lobed, 4–7 mm long, the lobes 3–4.5 mm long, reflexed, subequal to tube in length or longer or shorter, often thickened toward apex, valvate, imbricate, or convolute, usually obtuse to acute, tube broadly cylindric, often with deflexed hairs within and pubescent at throat; nectary disk cushion–shaped with a dense fringe of retrorse hairs. Stamens as many as and alternate with the corolla lobes, attached in corolla throat, exserted; filaments ca. 1.5–2.5 mm long, well developed; anthers ca. 1.5–2.5 mm long, dorsifixed near base, lanceolate to narrowly ovate, usually reflexed, dithecal, opening by longitudinal slits. Ovary inferior, 2-locular; ovules solitary in each locule, attached to the upper 1/3 of septum; style 5.5-7.5 mm long, slender, longer than corolla tube, glabrous, sometimes narrowing at apex, 1 or as many as carpels, terminal, the stigmatic knob cylindric, longer than broad, hollow to about the middle, bifid or deeply cleft at apex when mature; stigmas 2-lobed, dry or occasionally wet.

Fruit: Drupes 2-seeded black; juicy; obovoid; somewhat compressed; grooved on each side; emarginate; 8–10 mm long; the pyrenes cartilaginous to woody; rugulose to deeply furrowed; with a shallow apical cleft. Seeds incurved; with entire endosperm.

Ploidy:

Habitat: Dry shrubland and dry to mesic forest; often on slopes; also apparently in wet forest on O'ahu.

Elevation Range: 10–860(–1160) m.

Historical Distribution

Images

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Uses and Culture

USES

  • Black (leaves)

  • Durable wood used as cutting tool on softer woods and for farming tools, shark hooks, bait sticks (charred over fire); leaves for dye (Krauss 1993:25, Little & Skolmen 1989:296; Rock 1913:437; Wagner et al. 1990:1118); one of the hardest woods (Abbott 1992:12) that was fashioned into adzes (Kamakau 1976:122); sticks to keep pot lids open (Malo 1951:22). In the Ethnology Collection at Bishop Museum there is a post-contact example of the wood made into a bowl.

  • O'o - agricultural tool

PROPAGATION/CULTIVATION

  • The fruit of Psydrax odorata is about 3/8 inch in diameter, more or less round, and glossy black and juicy when ripe. The fruits are generally ripe in the late fall and winter. The pulpy fruits generally contain two seeds. Although many seeds are produced, they are often attacked by the larvae of the moth Orneodes objurgatella. These seeds have holes in them, are generally not viable, and should be discarded. Criley notes that fewer than 10% of seeds may be viable due to insect damage.
  • Psydrax odorata grows easily from healthy seeds. Culliney and Koebele note, however, that the seeds in unripe fruit will not germinate. If viable seeds are available, they should be removed from the pulpy fruit. The soft fruits can be broken up by hand in water; the lighter pulp will float and can be poured off. The seeds should then be washed thoroughly and dried on a paper towel. Before planting the seeds, soak them for 24 hours in cool tap water. Stratton's survey respondents recommended soaking for as long as 48 hours, changing the water daily. Discard seeds that float.
  • Culliney and Koebele recommend disinfecting the seeds by putting them in a solution of 1 part bleach and 9 parts water for 1/2 hour. After the seeds are removed from the bleach solution, soak them in tap water for a day using just enough water to cover the seeds.
  • Culliney and Koebele suggest sowing the seeds on the top of moistened vermiculite and covering them with a layer of moistened green sphagnum moss. As soon as the seeds begin to germinate, remove most of the moss layer. They write that germination takes about 1 month.
  • Other sources suggest planting the seeds at a depth of about twice their diameter in a soil-less, well-drained potting mix. NTBG suggests 1 part perlite to 1 part peat; Stratton's informants also suggested a mixture of 3 parts #2 perlite to 1 part Sunshine Mix #4. Keep the planting medium moist and place the containers in a shaded location. Again, these sources state that germination generally takes about 30 days, but it may take as long as 6 months.
  • In his germination studies, Obata found that untreated seeds had germination rates ranging from 5 to 30%. Yoshinaga found that fresh seeds of Psydrax odorata have a germination rate of 50%. The germination rate drops rapidly with storage at room temperature (55-84 degress F) and normal humidity of 58-98%. Some seeds remained viable after being stored for one year at 39 degrees F with a humidity of 10%. (Criley 1999; Culliney 1999; NTBG 1992; NTBG 1996; Obata 1967; Stratton 1998; Wagner 1990; Yoshinaga 1997; Yoshinaga 1998)
  • Reliable techniques for starting Psydrax odorata from cuttings have not yet been developed. Ginoza and Rauch tested 4 dilutions of rooting hormone with a 2 to 1 indolebutyric acid (IBA) to naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) ratio (Dip'n Grow) on 4 inch cuttings. The dilutations ranged from 500 to 5,000 parts per million (ppm) of IBA. Vermiculite was used as the rooting medium and the cuttings were placed under intermittent mist of 6 seconds every 2 minutes. There was no significant difference in the results from the different treatments and the maximum rooting percentage obtained was 7%.
  • Criley reports limited success in rooting softwood cuttings under high humidity using 4,000 parts per million (ppm) indolebutyric acid (IBA). This work was done using an intermittent mist system which was on for 6 to 8 seconds every 5 or 6 minutes under 30% shade. He reports 10 percent of cuttings rooted with this treatment in 10 to 12 weeks. Increasing the IBA treatment to 5,000 and 10,000 ppm did not improve rooting success. (Bornhorst 1996; Criley 1998; Criley 1999; Culliney 1999; Ginoza 1997; NTBG 1992)
  • Successful techniques for propagating Psydrax odorata from air layers have not yet been developed. (Bornhorst 1996; NTBG 1992) [Data from Herring, E. C., & Criley, R. A. (2003). The Hawaiian Native Plant Propagation Web Site: Developing a Webbased Information Resource. HortTechnology, 13(3), 545-548. https://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/hawnprop/]

Ethnobotanical Images

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Natural History

Statewide Status

Indigenous

Island Status

Kaua'i Indigenous
O'ahu Indigenous
Molokai Indigenous
Lana'i Indigenous
Maui Indigenous
Hawai'i Indigenous

Dispersal Agents


Pollinators

Bibliography

Name Published In: Fl. Vit. Nova 4: 230 (1988)

Other References

Wagner et al. 1990:1119 (K, O, Mo, L, M, H [as Canthium odoratum]); Smith 1988:230/Herbst & Wagner 1999:31 (COMBNOV, Syn. C. odoratum = P. odorata); Staples & Herbst 2005:484 (KEY), 499 (DESCR)

Laau Hawaii (Abbott) p.12

Occurrences

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