Ohia replacement suggestions

[KiminPL]

Justin -- Thanks for the well-researched list. Some of these may be too big for my needs, but others may be just perfect. I currently have a Michelia alba in my tea house garden that I'm pruning and shaping to keep low and horizontal -- an experiment involving weighting the branches with rocks in a Japanese fashion, not quite bonsai, but controlled growth. It is a very pretty glossy bright green and the flowers, though not especially showy, have a fine fragrance. I could see planting another allowing the natural pyramid shape for canopy.

To those who insist on natives -- I understand your point, and would never import a plant illegally, nor plant anything known to be invasive. I have my share of Alexander palms and African tulip trees to deal with, and remove Miconia when I find it. On the other hand, my garden is partly focused on preserving rare and endangered plants that may soon become extinct in their natural habitat, so it's not just about "pretty". All of them are purchased here on the Big Island from specialty nurseries, all legal, and hardly capable of reproducing, let alone taking over your forests. No albizia nightmares will be coming out of my garden.

[Justin]

Two more suggestions that I forgot I had in the garden. One is Brachychiton acerifolius, which is endemic to Cairns in Queensland, but which grows just fine at my garden in Leilani. Is it very upright, with a bright green trunk and glossy, maple looking leaves (hence acerifolius). It has fire engine red blooms in the spring, with more blooms if there has been less rain. The other is Tabebuia impetiginosa, which is not quite as upright, but is a medium height, nicely spreading tree that you'll never have to trim, as it has a symmetric candelabra growth habit. In California it is covered with bright pink flowers in the springtime, but in Leilani expect the bloom to be a bit more sparse because of the year-round moisture.

Both of these are growing well, but are well under control and no risk of going invasive, in Leilani. I sourced both of them locally, at Kapoho Kai for the Brachychiton and Vintage Green Farms for the Tabebuia.

[alapaimike]

There are many natives within Leilani Estates that could work for you.
Polyscias oahuensis is a great option. To see a specimen, go to Kupono street near Malama. There is an ohe with part of its canopy growing over the road. There is often fruit in the street, so you can try your hand at germinating your own.
Other great options are:
lama (Diospyros sandwicensis)
hame (Antidesma platyphyllum)
kopiko (Psychotria hawaiiensis)
alahee (Psydrax odorata)

regarding some of the previously suggested trees:
kou (Cordia subcordata) isn't necessarily for dry areas. We planted one at the top of Kahukai and it's doing great. It grows quickly and has really nice orange flowers. This is a very common landscaping tree.
Koa trees are readily available and worth a shot, but they are highly susceptible to fungus and nematodes at low elevation, so try not to get too attached to them.
Koaia could work, just make sure they have really good drainage
Olomea (Perrottetia sandwicensis), from my experience, grows at elevations higher than Leilani Estates (>2500 ft) and would likely not survive.
Naio (Myoporum sandwicense) does have a dwarf and shrubby form, but it can also be a canopy tree, especially up Stainback in the Puu Makaala NAR and Upper Waiakea Forest Reserve. The species tolerates a wide elevational and precipitation gradient, so it could work. It doesn't naturally grow (to my knowledge) in Leilani Estates.

For those opting to plant non-natives, here is a link to the Hawaii Weed Risk Assessment. (http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/dae...e.asp.html) It will essentially tell you which plants are, or have high potential of becoming invasive.

Good luck to you and all of us in Leilani and beyond who are seeing the devastating effects of the ohia wilt.

for those interested, please consider attending the community sessions and events at the Hawaii Conservation Conference on Wednesday, August 5. http://www.hawaiiconservation.org/confer...ial-events. In one of the community sessions, there will be a talk about the ohia wilt. At the community event, there will be representatives from just about every conservation, research, land management, and educational organization/agency in Hawaii available to talk to the public.

Aloha

[rainyjim]

Kiminpl, you are welcome and yes I am growing those. Be aware myoporum can grow over 40 ft tall - so - not necessarily a 'shrub' as you say. The cordia can work well in puna because of our well draining lava rock soils. The artocarpus fruit does drop yes. I find that they are all growing 'slow' relative to the monsters I am attempting to keep at bay around them... Tibouchina et al. However, I find a unique aesthetic beauty in each and appreciate that I am fortunate enough to caretake them. In some senses I may be a biased source, but overall I feel like they are 'performing' well - all things considered (my poor/ lack of soil, competition, extreme climactic events).

Alapaimike, very nice. Thank you for the information and links. I have a hard time keeping all the native hawaiian names straight but am attempting to remember all of their names also. Thanks for the reminders.

[bananahead]

best would be to replace your dead Ohia.... with more Ohia trees. they are 'weedy' (and easy to dig up young or take one from a Hapuu fern and replant young), and fairly fast growers for a hardwood tree...

on the Ohe's (now Polyscias, formally Tetraplasandra), Polyscias oahuensis and P.hawaiensis grow in wet places.
P. sandwichensis (now Polyscias, formally Reynoldsia) in low dry areas like Kona side.

Koa (pea family) will/can grow very low elevation with care .. Amy Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden has a few growing 1 mile from ocean, on hill in Capt Cook on Kona side.. Kerin E. Lilleeng-Rosenberger has a few nice ones growing at 200' elevation (see her book 'Growing Hawaii's Native Plants') the root fungus is from wet soil, so in shady/mossy areas in mid-lower Puna they may not grow well w/o proper soil and drainage.

Koaia (pea family) are better for drier hotter lower areas though...

other larger shrubs/trees that naturally live in mid to lower Puna.... (some are slow growing and can be very tricky, or tough to find)
Hame (spurge family)
Pilo (2-3 dif types, coffee/gardenia family)
Kopiko (coffee/gardenia family)
Mamaki (nettle family)
Neleau (mango/sumac family)
Kawau (holly family)
Ohe (3 types, ginseng family)
Loulu (2 types endemic to Puna, palm family)
Hala (screwpine family)
Bobea (coffee/gardenia family)
Iliahi (sandalwood family)
Mahoe (soapberry family)
Alani (citrus family)
Olomea (bittersweet family)
Lama (ebony/persimmon family)
Akia (large leaf type W.sandwicensis can get 15'+, akia family)
Mamane (pea family)
Naio (myoporum family)
Hoawa (2 types, pittosporum family)
Kolea (2 types, myrsine family)
and many native Hibiscus can reach 25'-40' tall ie all 5 of the endemic white ones, the Kokio red one (H.kokio), and the Hau (H.tilliaceus, variegated, small leaf, or normal wild type)

good luck

******************************************************************
save our indigenous and endemic Hawaiian Plants... learn about them, grow them, and plant them on your property, ....instead of all that invasive non-native garbage I see in most yards... aloha

[bananahead]

ps, on the Naio (myoporum), size depends on what type you get.... they can vary from 2' tall ground hugging sprawling type, to 40' tall with a fat huge trunk.. the plants growing at southpoint are almost groundcover like, while the Naio up on back side of Mauna Loa can be tall and huge...

******************************************************************
save our indigenous and endemic Hawaiian Plants... learn about them, grow them, and plant them on your property, ....instead of all that invasive non-native garbage I see in most yards... aloha

[KiminPL]

alapaimike -- thank you for your thoughtful contribution. Since everyone is losing trees, many can benefit from the information being shared here.

Over the weekend I happened upon the Amy Greenwell garden, a good opportunity to check out some trees. Not all were labeled, but I saw what I think was the Cordia subcordata in flower, and saw tons of Artocarpus altilus, which unfortunately convinced me not to plant it. The finest example was carefully pruned and shaped, a lovely tree. The others, left to grow naturally, as I would have to do, were too dense for my purposes and the litter of the big leaves was amazing, though I expect in LE that would break down more quickly than over on the dryer side. I saw some examples of Polyscias oahuensis (formerly Tetraplasandra, learning new names) and really liked the leaves and shape. I will take a walk here in LE to see the trees you mentioned.

Bananahead - Thanks for your list. I will have to research these as I am yet unfamiliar with matching Hawaiian names to exact genus+species. I am familiar with the Loulou as Pritchardia, and they are commonly seen, though they don't thrive as well as I would expect here in LE. Maybe people don't fertilize them, I don't know. I find it difficult to differentiate the various species of Pritchardia with a few exceptions. I'd be thrilled to grow a group of P. viscosa.

Planting more Ohia -- just my theory, but wilt-resistant survivors will be the future of the Ohia forest. It will be years before the culling is done, and until then, I could just be spreading more disease. Not to mention, I will not be here in another 60 years to see those trees grow overhead. That wouldn't stop me from planting them, mind you, but I also have a need for shade in the more immediate future. []

[1voyager1]

I have found a group of trees that I think are Ohe Maukas.
They are in the vicinity of L.E. at about 850'.
Can anyone confirm that they are or are not?
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p295/...vmlrsl.jpg
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p295/...krufzu.jpg

In looking around, I've seen suggestions that Ohe Mauka may bloom/fruit about October.
Can anyone confirm or correct?

[Justin]

Kim, at the Maku'u market the other day, I got a Tetraplasandra and an Enterolobium. I'll let you know how they do in the garden.

[KiminPL]

I picked up a nice Polyscias (Tetraplasandra) at Maku'u too! I also ran into Tom P., will visit his nursery next chance I get. Mention "trees" and he becomes very talkative.