05-23-2011, 04:44 PM
A botanist pal of mine and I were just talking about these two plants last week.
There is also an endemic relative that grows by the coast and looks a lot the same. It's a parasitic plant, like mistletoe, that lives off of other plant hosts. The Hawaiian native one is called Kauna'oa or Cuscuta sandwichiana. My friend was saying that it's hard to tell them apart but for where they grow and that the native one is more orange yellow than greenish yellow.
http://www.hear.org/starr/images/image/?q=010206-0241&o=plants
The native Kauna'oa is used for lei and does not spread so rampantly as the other, although in the patches where it grows it does cover up a few trees pretty well.
Introduced Japanese or "Western Field" Dodder is a close relative, C. campestris, and is usually found at higher elevations, especially in pastures.
http://www.hear.org/starr/images/image/?q=090409-5754&o=plants
Down in HPP there's a good chance it could be the native one.
There is also an endemic relative that grows by the coast and looks a lot the same. It's a parasitic plant, like mistletoe, that lives off of other plant hosts. The Hawaiian native one is called Kauna'oa or Cuscuta sandwichiana. My friend was saying that it's hard to tell them apart but for where they grow and that the native one is more orange yellow than greenish yellow.
http://www.hear.org/starr/images/image/?q=010206-0241&o=plants
The native Kauna'oa is used for lei and does not spread so rampantly as the other, although in the patches where it grows it does cover up a few trees pretty well.
Introduced Japanese or "Western Field" Dodder is a close relative, C. campestris, and is usually found at higher elevations, especially in pastures.
http://www.hear.org/starr/images/image/?q=090409-5754&o=plants
Down in HPP there's a good chance it could be the native one.
Uluhe Design
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Native Landscape Design
uluhedesign@yahoo.com