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Category Archives: Loulu

The Way It Is In 2010

Two Neophloga stand among the red Ti-leaves

The Garden at Wakiu is an ever evolving living work of art.  We moved to the Garden in 1999, into a new home we built here.  The house sits on the site of what was our vegetable garden, we grew a variety of vegetables and a couple rows of Tahitian taro.  The fence on the backside of the garden was covered with the vines of the soft shell passion fruit and the lower end was curtained by a stand of purple sugar cane.

The garden was filled mostly with patches of apple bananas and scattered around the perimeter were citrus trees; lemon, grapefruit, and lime to begin with.  Also among the citrus were a few macadamia nut trees and some young ulu (breadfruit).

Access to the garden was by way of an unimproved road (grassy and sometimes muddy) down the center lengthwise of the property coming right of the highway.  A swinging farm gate was hung on a solid six by six post at the bottom of the first slope about twenty feet from the highway.  The sloping entryway leading to the gate was lined on both sides with yucca plants.   After the gate, the land leveled out for forty or more feet with a slight slope from left to right as you entered.  We planted a Ti-leaf hedge backed by a Wili wili hedge the width of the property at the edge of the level ground before the land took on a second slope for about twenty feet till the next leveling out.   From this point on the land has a gradual slope running the rest of the length of the property to the back boundary some seven hundred plus feet from the highway.

The roadway ran halfway down the middle of the land to the end of the cleared area.  A bulldozer had been hired to grub the upper half of the property in 1990, before we started to plant; the lower half was still wild with overgrowth.  The first of the palm collection was planted lining both sides of the roadway twenty feet apart.   These first palms in the garden were  Pritchardias that were germinated from seeds collected in the 80s; several of the seeds came from the former Maui Zoo grounds in Kahului where a native Hawaiian garden was planted by Rene Silva, the grounds keeper at the time.  Rene gave told me which species of Pritchardia each of the trees were; I had at least one of each of the represented species growing along the roadway.  However, over the next ten or so years, I saw one by one of these palms die off mostly from the virus that attacks the growing point of palms.  One or two died from boring beetles or worms.  Out of the dozen or so Pritchardias that were originally planted, one survives today.  It is a Pritchardia munroi, which is among the rarest of the Hawaiian Pritchardias or loulu (as they are called by the Hawaiians).

After we moved into our new home in the garden in 1999, I began to plant more loulu.  My goal is to have at least one specimen of each of the species of loulu growing in the garden.  It was at this point that the garden started to take form as a repository of native palms.  Now that the surviving Pritchardia munroi was about ten years old and bearing fruit (seeds), I found that there was a demand for the seeds in the global palm collecting community.  I started looking at palms other than loulu at this time and found that I could trade my loulu seeds with a palm seed merchant for seeds of other palms from all over the world.  So, I started germinating these new seeds and planting the palms in the garden; there were more seedlings than I cared to plant in the garden most times, so now I started to wholesale them as potted palms to an outlet in Central Maui.  The sales helped to defray the cost of raising these palms, buying plastic pots, potting soil, organic compost and fertilizers.  Each time I was ready to make a seed trade, I would ask for the seed merchant’s price list, match up the available seeds with photographs of the mature palms in palm books or on the internet, select the palms that I found to my liking and then traded for the appropriate seeds.

Not all of my seed selections made it to plantable palms; some did not germinate, some germinated but did not survive the early seedling stage, but many did survive and have been planted in the garden or are still potted and waiting for their turn to be planted in the garden.  At this point, there are over one hundred fifty species of palms from a good number of genuses that are represented in the garden at Wakiu.

Loulu, the Hawaiian palm


Pritchardia remota in the Garden at Wakiu

Loulu

Loulu is the Hawaiian name for the palms of the genus Pritchardia.  The genus  is comprised of some thirty or so species of fan palms, currently twenty four are considered endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.  These trees range from twenty five to a hundred feet in height; they have solitary trunks or stems, are monoecious with costapalmate leaves.  They inhabit all of the major islands of the Hawaiian chain as well as Nihoa Island to the northwest of Kauai.  The non-native Hawaiian species are endemic to some of the island groups of the South Pacific.

Many of these palms are endangered and some are possibly extinct in their native habitats.  The bulk of these beautiful palms grow in rain forests above one thousand feet in elevation.  Those species native to drier areas grow at or near surface or seeping waters usually fed by springs.  The endangered status of many of these palms is the result of invasive species of plants and animals degrading the natural habitat and or devouring the seeds and seedlings.

Loulu sport large, stiff, pleated costapalmate (though not obvious) leaves; most species have wide, nearly flat leaves.  The petioles are long, stout and unarmed, often covered in a dense chalklike light tomentum as are the sheaths.  The inflorescences sometimes extend beyond the leaf crown; they consist of a tubular series of bracts from which the stiff and short flowering branches project bearing white, yellow or orange bi-sexual flowers.  The fruit range from 1/4 inch to 2 inches or more in diameter; and spherical to ovoid in shape taking on a reddish brown to black color when ripe.

The young fruits and flowers of one species of loulu in the Kohala Mountains of the island of Hawaii were apparently an important food source for an endemic Hawaiian honeycreeper, the bright red, dramatically marked ‘ula ‘ai hawane, a bird last seen a century ago and now considered extinct.

Some species grow near the seashore and can withstand salt laden winds and slight salinity in the soil.  These are some of the world’s most beautiful palms and should be considered  for a position in any tropical or near tropical garden large enough to accommodate them that is not affected by lethal yellowing.

Loulu is used medicinally by the Hawaiians to treat ‘ea, thrush disease of children evident by a coated tongue sometimes accompanied by sore throat, and pa’ao’ao, a latent childhood disease causing physical weakening in children and adults.  The leaf bud and the inner flesh of the palm are combined with niu (coconut, cocos nucifera), ko kea (white sugarcane,  Saccharum officianarum),  ‘ohia’a bark (Metrosideros sp.) and ‘ala’alawainui pehu (Peperomia sp.).  All of the items are pounded into a liquid form and drunk three times a day.

Loulu palm leaves were erected to signify a temporary, special ‘heiau loulu’, where gods of fishing were seasonally propitiated.  One of the most elegant fans known from the Hawaiian Islands is thought to have been woven partly from loulu palm fronds.  In the Ethnology Collection at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu there is a hat that is likely woven from loulu fronds as well.

The leaves were also used by the Hawaiians for thatch on their dwellings in the vicinity of the loulu stands.  Most species of loulu grow in the rainforest on mountain slopes, ridges, and valleys at elevations above one thousand feet.  This being the case, loulu leaves were not always the most convenient source of thatching as most dwellings were erected in less harsh climes.  The loulu that grow in the drier climates of the lowlands and coastal regions such as Pritchardia affinis and Pritchardia hillebrandii may have been cultivated and transported to other locations by the Hawaiians for use of their leaves as thatch and for the edible immature fruit which is considered a delicacy.

In the study of this genus of palms, I have found variations of the physical traits of certain species resulting from cultivating them in other than their native ground or immediate vicinity.  The most noticeable impacts I have seen are upon the fruit size and the leaf character.  These impacts were detected especially in specimens cultivated at lower elevations and drier climates than the native habitats.  Loulu are suspected of readily hybridizing, so differences appearing in successive generations should not be a surprise.  This would be especially true if the environment  in which a specimen is relocated contains specimens of other species of loulu.  In these kinds of situations, it is best that the flowers are hand pollinated to ensure the seeds produced are true to species.

Over time, many different species of loulu were named.  In 1980, Don Hodel listed in the Journal Principes thirty three species and six varieties.  Since then, groups of species with overlapping character traits have been consolidated into a single species.  This movement was most prominent on the island of Oahu where at least seven species ( P. gaudichaudii, P.kahanae, P.kahukuensis, P.kamapuaana, P. macdanielsii, P. martioides, and P.rockiana ) were consolidated into the species Pritchardia martii.  The species Pritchardia lowreyana absorbed P. brevicalyx, P. donata and P.macrocarpa.  Pritchardia elliptica joined Pritchardia lanaiensis and Pritchardia insignis merged with Pritchardia hillebrandii.  Pritchardia napaliensis has since been added to the list of loulu.

The number of species thus has shrunk in recent years.  At the risk of eliminating some species with standing and possibly including some species which should not be listed, the current inventory of Hawaiian Pritchardi  (loulu) numbers twenty four as follows:

On the island of Kauai:  Pritchardia flynnii, P. hardyi, P. limahuliensis, P.minor, P. napaliensis, P. perlmanii, P. viscosa, P.waialealeana. On Niihau: Pritchardia aylmer-robinsonii. On Oahu: Pritchardia kaalae, P. martii. On Molokai:  Pritchardia hillebrandii, P. lowreyana, P. munroi. On Lanai:  Pritchardia lanaiensis. On Maui:  Pritchardia arecina, P. forbesiana, P. glabrata. And on the island of Hawaii (the Big Island): Pritchardia affinis, P. beccariana, P. lanigera, P. schattaueri.

In December, 2007, Don Hodel published his A Review of the Genus Pritchardia as a supplement to the quarterly Palms of the International Palm Society.  Once again, species either disappeared, were absorbed into another species, or were separated out and added to the list as a new species.  On Niihau, the endemic P. aylmer-robinsonii was found to be a variety of P. remota.  The endemic on Lanai, P. lanaiensis was found to be P. glabrata, which is also endemic to West Maui.  Pritchardia forbesiana which was formerly thought to be endemic to only West Maui is now found to also be endemic to East Molokai and P. munroi which was formerly endemic only to East Molokai is now also endemic to West Maui.  In East Maui, a new species  has been identified as Pritchardia woodii; it was formerly thought to be P. arecina.  On Oahu, Pritchardia kahukuensis which was absorbed into P. martii a while back has now been pulled out again as a separate species.  On the Big Island, Pritchardia affinis lost its status to Pritchardia maideniana, a name that has appeared in the past.  Pritchardia gordonii is a new species native to the Kohala Mountains.  On Kauai, the species P. limahuliensis was found to be identical to P. napaliensis; higher up in elevation are found P. perlmanii.

Most recently, Hodel announced the discovery of a new species on Oahu which has been named Pritchardia bakeri.  And, Pritchardia lowreyana, which was thought to be extinct, was rediscovered  in the Koolau Mountains on that same island.

I have been photographing cultivated specimens of Loulu for a few years now, these palms tend to take on different characteristics outside of their native habitats:

Pritchardia affinis, Foster Garden, Honolulu

Pritchardia glabrata, Kahanu Garden, Hana, Maui

Pritchardia kaalae, Foster Garden, Honolulu

Pritchardia lowreyana, Foster Garden, Honolulu

Pritchardia napaliensis, Kahanu Garden, Hana, Maui

Pritchardia remota, Foster Garden, Honolulu

Pritchardia martii (loulu hiwa), Foster Garden, Honolulu

Pritchardia beccariana, Wakiu, Hana, Maui

Pritchardia munroi, Wakiu, Hana, Maui

Pritchardia arecina, Nahiku, Hana, Maui

Pritchardia hillebrandii, Wakiu, Hana, Maui

Pritchardia forbesiana, Keanae, Maui

Pritchardia minor, Wahiawa Botanical Garden, Wahiawa, Oahu

Loulu ancestor Pritchardia pacifica


A Trio of Pritchardia pacifica

These three Pritchardia pacifica palms appear to be jockeying for highest position.  They are less than ten years old, a neighbor to the rear right of the clump is of the same age.  Recent literature on the genus Pritchardia by Donald Hodel alludes to the likelihood that this species, Pritchardia pacifica, native to Tonga, and Pritchardia thurstonii, native to Fiji, are the genetic ancestors of the twenty four species of Hawaiian Pritchardia, or Loulu, as they are called by the Hawaiians.

My experience with these palms of the genus Pritchardia has been that these two are much more resilient to adverse conditions, pests and disease than those species native to these islands.  But, the Hawaiian species are much better at weathering colder climates.

This species, Pritchardia pacifica, is a beauty at the adolescent stage, early trunking, before inflorescence.  The leaves are at their maximum size and form at this stage, their size and shape alter somewhat as the tree gets older, becoming more spade-shaped and smaller when the tree gets taller.

From the land of volcanoes, Pritchardia beccariana

Pritchardia beccariana, Wakiu

This loulu’s homeland is the forest near the active volcano at Kilauea crater on the island of Hawaii.  It was brought to Wakiu as a tiny seedling in 1993, it is now fully grown, producing seeds from which there are three young trees now growing in the Garden at Wakiu.  This tree grows at our former residence a couple hundred yards down the road from the garden.

Pritchardia beccariana is endemic to the windward mountainous rainforests on the island of Hawaii where it grows at an elevation of four thousand feet or so.  The epithet honors the Italian palm taxonomist Odoardo Beccari (1843-1920).

Mature stems (trunks) grow to sixty feet; more commonly to forty feet with a diameter of one foot.  Deep brown with closely set leaf scar rings, the trunk shows off narrow vertical fissures.   The leaf crown is spherical because of the persistent dead leaves; it attains a spread of fifteen feet.  Leaves are three to four feet wide and semi to almost circular.  The leaf segments extend to one third of the leaf blade, and the stout petioles extend into the blades, forming a distinct midrib.

These trees thrive in partial shade to full sun except in the hottest climates where it needs protection from the midday sun.  Pritchardia beccariana loves water and must not suffer drought conditions.  It also needs humus rich soil that is well drained.  This species is one of the tallest growing of the genus.  Younger plants are incredibly attractive up close because of the near perfection of the heavy leaves.

Of the five loulu species native to the island of Hawaii, Pritchardia beccariana is found in ‘Ola’a, a forest in the Volcanoes National Park, and can be easily seen from Wright Road (Highway 148).  Mature trees emerge far above the canopy of the ‘Ohi’a (Metrosideros polymorpha), tree ferns and other common rain forest trees.  This species of loulu is also distributed over uncleared forest outside the National Park and is not considered rare; however, the threats to reproduction from rats, feral pigs and insects should be considered for close observation.

Pritchardia munroi

Formerly thought to be endemic to mountains of eastern Molokai, Pritchardia munroi was recently found in the mountains of West Maui as well.

Pritchardia munroi growing in the garden at Wakiu, Hana, Maui.

Most of the species native to the Hawaiian Islands have come to be in isolated geographic locations; mostly in higher elevations in wet rainforest environments.     The native habitats for Pritchardia munroi are a dry, evergreen scrub forest in two gulches at an elevation of two thousand five hundred feet above Kamalo near Puakoolau on Molokai and south of Puu Kukui on Maui.  The specimen shown below is the parent of the tree above:

Pritchardia munroi growing in Maui Nui Botanical Garden, Kahului, Maui.

The tree in the upper photo was planted in 1990; a seedling from the tree shown in the lower photo.  These two photographs were taken in 2007,  showing the enormous difference in growing rates between the two trees because of their growing conditions.

The trunk (stem) of this species grows to twenty feet in height and one foot in diameter.  It is light brown and covered with dense, brown leaf sheath fibers in its younger parts.

New Species On Oahu, Pritchardia bakeri

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There’s a new species of Pritchardia on Oahu reports Donald R. Hodel of the University of California.  The species is called Pritchardia bakeri, the epithet honors Ray Baker of Lyon Arboretum of the University of Hawaii up in Manoa Valley.   The new species occurs in wet, low, disturbed, windswept, mostly exposed shrubby and or grassy areas, sometimes on steep slopes, at the northern  and southern ends of the Koolau Mountains.

Hodel also finds that Pritchardia lowreyana, long thought to be extinct, is still in evidence on the Koolau Mountain range.

After studying these palms over the last three decades, writing about them and photographing them in an attempt to compose a comprehensive layman’s account of these palms native to the Hawaiian Islands, I have to concede that any such account will have to be left open-ended.  The information is in flux.  Species’ names come and go, are changed, consolidated, separated.  They also get discarded or added to the collection.  The Loulu species now number 24.  Not too long ago the number was closer to 30.  It would seem that any account would become obsolete very shortly after publication.

I have been gathering the different Pritchardia species to grow them collectively in my garden since 1980 or so.  I have yet to gather them all, I have approximately half of them growing here in Wakiu, Hana, Maui at an elevation of approximately 150 feet.

Pritchardia munroi

Pritchardia munroi (foreground)

Pritchardia munroi (foreground)

This specimen of Pritchardia munroi (foreground) is the oldest loulu palm in my garden.  It was planted in 1990 along with eleven other loulu of various species.  It is the only survivor; the others succumbed to disease or insect infestation.  Strangely, this loulu is one of the rarest I had in the collection; at the time it was thought that only two specimens remained in their native habitat.  As of December, 2007, when a  review of the genus Pritchardia by Don Hodel was published as a supplement to the quarterly Palm Journal of the International Palm Society, the native habitat and surviving specimens have been revised to include an area in West Maui where several more specimens have been found.  The species is also found cultivated in private gardens.

The shorter specimen behind the munroi is a Pritchardia arecina, native to East Maui; behind that is a taller Pritchardia pacifica.  The pacifica is one of the more disease resistant species of Pritchardia, as is the thurstonii; they are both non-native species in Hawaii.

Pritchardia hardyi of Kauai

Pritchardia hardyi
Pritchardia hardyi

This loulu is endemic to the island of Kauai.  It grows in wet rain forests at elevations below 2000 feet.  The trunk or stem reaches a height of 80 feet or more and is 1 foot in diameter.  The leaf crown is spherical or nearly so, and the large semi-circular, stiff, dark green leaves are 3 feet wide.  Note the inflorescences (flower stalks) extend beyond the leaf crown.  This trait distinguishes two major types of loulu from each other and is traced back to what is thought to be the two predecessor species of all the Hawaiian palms: Pritchardia thurstonii (with inflorescences extending beyond the leaf crown) and Pritchardia pacifica (with flatter wider leaves and inflorescences within the leaf crown). 

 

Pritchardia remota of Nihoa Island

This little beauty is endemic to the little island of Nihoa north of Kauai.  I collected seeds from loulu palms wherever it was allowed.  The seeds that eventually gave me this tree came from the former Maui Zoo grounds where there was a Native Hawaiian Garden installed by Rene Silva.  Back in the 80s Rene let me pick up a few seeds.  I had germinated several of these Pritchardia remota but lost them as seedlings, or so I thought.  I realize that this tree was among some Pritchardia pacifica seedlings and I mistook it for one of them, planting it along with two pacificas in a trio.  However, when they began to mature, I noticed a distinct difference in the character of this tree.  I sent a photograph of it to the National Tropical Botanical Garden in Lawai, Kauai and had one of their botanist, Ken Wood, identify it.  When he named the species, the memory of having those seedlings came back to me.   It is the only survivor of those seedlings I started in the 80s.

Pritchardia remota

Pritchardia remota

Loulu, a palm by any other name

The first Loulu palm I met and collected is the Thurston Palm or Pritchardia thurstonii which is native to Fiji.  It’s a somewhat smaller palm, with flower/seed stalks that extend beyond the leaf crown.  These palms are more resistant to pests and disease than the native Hawaiian palms.  In recent literature, I find that botanists are now considering the Thurston Palm one of the primary ancestors to the native Hawaiian species.  Interesting, my study has taken me full circle.

Pritchardia thurstonii

Pritchardia thurstonii

 I began this journey in the early 70s when I saw my first Pritchardia palm, it was a Thurston palm or Pritchardia thurstonii.  Pritchardias are tropical looking fan palms.  They’re friendly.  They do not have thorns.  Over these past thirty years, I have collected specimens of this genus, concentrating on the species endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.  There are twenty three species considered endemic to Hawaii today.  They are called “Loulu” by the Hawaiians.   I have been growing these palms in my garden since I saw that first one, which by the way is not a Hawaiian species.  Over the last three years, I compiled all of the information that I could find about these palms and have photographed about half of the known species of “Loulu”.  I am now preparing a photographic discourse for publishing.  If you are interested, come back for a visit.