09-24-2012, 05:26 PM
Hala forest on the Puna coast is one of the last vestiges of the native coastal forest on the Hawaiian islands. Hala is an indigenous tree and is very important to the ecosystem and to Hawaiians. It is one of the few trees that the very endangered native hoary bat will call home in the winter months when it comes down from the mountains. It, with its long thick leaves cuts the salt spray to places inland. Hala weavers from ‘O‘ahu come here to get leaves (lau) because hardly any trees are left on their island due to development and clearing. Another advantage of not disturbing hala forest is that it will take care of itself. The long thick leaves fall and make a mulch that makes it fairly hard for other things to grow, ie, gnarly weeds. The hala keys, small yellow fruits, are extolled in many an old mele (chant) as the beautiful scent of Puna. The hinano, the long flower of the male trees is considered an aphrodisiac for luring a lover.
Albizia is an introduced, very invasive tree that will kill ‘o‘hia. It is a nitrogen fixer, which may sound good but many native trees here do not like much nitrogen. Notice baby ‘o‘hia on raw lava flows not needing nitrogen. Albizia is also such a fast grower here that it can become a danger to homes because it grows so fast it does not get a good root system and also has brittle limbs in high winds.
Anyway, mahalo for your thoughts.
Albizia is an introduced, very invasive tree that will kill ‘o‘hia. It is a nitrogen fixer, which may sound good but many native trees here do not like much nitrogen. Notice baby ‘o‘hia on raw lava flows not needing nitrogen. Albizia is also such a fast grower here that it can become a danger to homes because it grows so fast it does not get a good root system and also has brittle limbs in high winds.
Anyway, mahalo for your thoughts.