As told by Nona Beamer There is a shiny green plant that grows near the beaches of Hawaiʻi called the naupaka. It has small delicate white half flowers. It was named naupaka for a Hawaiian princess who lived many, many years ago, at a time when the naupaka blossoms were whole. Her people loved Naupaka. […]
Adapted from “The Goddess Pele” by Joe Mullins A long time ago, there was a handsome Hawaiian chief named ʻŌhiʻa, he was in love with a beautiful Hawaiian maiden named Lehua. ʻOhiʻa and Lehua had promised to be true to each other for always. One day, Pele, the goddess of the volcano, saw ʻŌhiʻa and […]
Plants brought by Polynesian settlers to Hawaiʻi are called Polynesian Introduction Plants, or Canoe Plants. Polynesian settlers brought between twenty-four and thirty-six plants with them when they settled the Hawaiian Islands. Most of these plants had practical purposes for survival and many of them were food crops. As the Hawaiian culture emerged, farming methods, particularly […]
The Hawaiian Islands are considered the most isolated in the world as they lie at least 2,000 miles from any continent, and 1,000 miles from any Pacific atoll. The native plants of Hawaiʻi developed over millions of years through chance colonization. It is estimated on average only once every 98,000 years a species of plant […]