DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS
- tall tree fern with cylindrical trunk (similar diameter from top to bottom)
- the tallest meu in Ni`aulani, at 25 feet, also the tallest individual of all tree ferns in Ni`aulani Rain Forest
- trunk covered with tightly interwoven dark roots and embedded old frond bases mostly at top of trunk
- only small amounts of matted, mustard or gold colored hair, mostly at the base of stipes
- underside of blade light-green similar to C. menziesii but not white-green like C. glaucum
TRADITIONAL HAWAIIAN USES
- no uses listed specifically for meu in standard references
HAWAIIAN RAIN FOREST ECOLOGY
- the least common Cibotium tree fern in Ni`aulani; more abundant at lower elevations in Hawaiian rain forests
- more common in Ni`aulani Rain Forest than in surrounding areas of Volcano except for areas on older, deep ash soil near the park’s `Ōla`a Forest
- its relative abundance in Ni`aulani may reflect protection from feral pigs and logging
- unlike hāpu`u `i`i and hāpu`u pulu tree ferns, very few young meu tree ferns are becoming established following the removal of kahili ginger; maybe more in the future?
- very few epiphytic trees and shrubs becoming established on meu; few moss mats and embedded former frond bases, best microsites for epiphytes
- most taller meu with medium-sized `ōlapa trees growing epiphytically on them, with their slender aerial roots reaching the ground
HOW TO SAY “MEU” IN HAWAIIAN
Hawaiian Rain Forest 