KŌLEA LAU NUI (MYRSINE LESSERTIANA)

DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS

• mature leaves dark colored and alternately attached to the stems
• leaves with a prominent, light-colored midrib and obscure secondary veins
• newly emerging leaves often pink in color, sometimes light yellow-green

TRADITIONAL HAWAIIAN USES

• wood hard, used by Hawaiians for posts and beams in house construction
• also used for canoe gunwales and kappa anvils
• bark used for dying kapa

HAWAIIAN RAIN FOREST ECOLOGY

• mature trees row in the secondary tree canopy above the tree ferns but below `ōhi`a and koa; less abundant than `ōlapa and kāwa`u at Niaulani
• seedlings common now that kahili ginger removed
• seedlings usually on nurse logs where tree ferns are dense; may also grow from soil where tree ferns are less dense
• can grow into large trees with nurse log origin after roots penetrate soil as nurse log decomposes
• gets established as an epiphyte on tree ferns and grow into small tree up to six feet tall
• does not become large tree as an epiphyte because does not form aerial roots to mine water and nutrients from the soil

KŌLEA LAU NUI (MYRSINE LESSERTIANA) are medium-size trees, shown here in the center section of the photograph

SAY IT IN HAWAIIAN!