Wiliwili Flowers - Erythrina sandwicensis - Kahikinui Maui Hawaii
by Sharon Mau
Title
Wiliwili Flowers - Erythrina sandwicensis - Kahikinui Maui Hawaii
Artist
Sharon Mau
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
Wiliwili, with the scientific name Erythrina sandwicensis, is a species of flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae that is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. It is the only species of Erythrina that naturally occurs here. It is typically found in Hawaiian tropical dry forests on leeward island slopes up to an elevation of 600 m (2,000 ft). Wiliwili means "repeatedly twisted" in the Hawaiian language and refers to the seedpods, which dehisce, or twist open, to reveal the seeds.
The bark is smooth, slightly fissured, and covered in gray or black spines up to 1 cm (0.39 in) in length.
The bark on the main trunk of mature trees has a distinct orange cast, which is caused by a terrestrial alga.
The wiliwili is summer (dry season) drought deciduous. The dry season usually begins in late April or in May, and trees in the wild typically lose all of their leaves before they bloom.[but not always]
The flowers appear in the first half of the dry season, from April through July. [I took this photograph yesterday 07 July 2013 Kahikinui]
They form on horizontal or nearly horizontal racemes.
The flower colour may be orange, yellow, salmon, greenish or whitish.
Sometimes all of these colours occur in a single population.
The standard petal is erect, not enclosing the other petals.
Like all of the erythrinas, the wiliwili is pollinated by birds.
Pods develop and persist on the tree, with the seeds remaining attached long after the pods have opened.
The seeds are dislodged by heavy downpours that generally start around November in the islands.
Many seeds germinate quickly, and a well-established seedling can grow to 4 ft (1.2 m) in height before the start of the next dry season.
The Wiliwili is an unusual spine-bearer because this is a species that has evolved in the isolated Hawaiian Islands without the presence ungulates or other large herbivores.
It is thought to be closely related to E. tahitensis, a tree endemic to the Tahitian Archipelago, and E. velutina, a widespread species found in tropical South America and the Caribbean.
The Wiliwili is distinguished from the other seven cultivated species by a pod with only one to three red or yellow-orange seeds, which sink in water; non-native Erythrina have pods with larger numbers of brown seeds, which float in water.
Indigenous Hawaiians in the past have made a number of items from wiliwili wood because of its low density, such as mouo (fishing net floats), ama (outrigger canoe floats, and extremely long papa heʻe nalu (surfboards) called olo.
Olo, which averaged 18 feet (5.5 m), were exclusively ridden by aliʻi (royalty).
The wood was sometimes used for the waʻa (hull) of outrigger canoes intended to be used near-shore, for recreation, or for training.
The shiny orange-red seeds were strung into lei.
http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/forestry/trees/CommonTreesHI/CFT_Erythrina_sandwicensis.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Degener
Wiliwili Flowers - Erythrina sandwicensis - Endemic Flowering Trees of Hawai'i
Kahikinui Maui Hawai'i
Other common names
Hawaiian erythrina, Hawaiian coraltree
S h a r o n M a u | p h o t o g r a p h y + d e s i g n
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Uploaded
July 8th, 2013
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