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Hello once more,
Hala trees, I may have some, how do they behave? I would never get rid of them, just wondering if they are like Albizia....can'r imagine. I know they are some of the remaining native trees!
AKpilot
We're all here, because we're not all there!
We're all here, because we're not all there!
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last remaining native trees. Geesh can't type!
We're all here, because we're not all there!
We're all here, because we're not all there!
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They are not like albezia.... they stay fairly compact, do not break at the slightest storm, fruits have big ol' heavy keys with the seeds, rather that light fluffy seeds, they have big long leaves that stay quite a while, rather than small leaflets that disappear, the top looks like it screws up from the ground as it grows from a seedling. and much, much much slower than the albezia
The wood is more ... wood than albezia, but due to the smaller dia of the trees, normally turned into smaller items, though I have seen bowls at the wood turners show...kinda like palm
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Hey there,
Yea, I am sure it is Hala. I am looking at places in Waa Waa and they have Hala trees, I was just wondering if they "stay put" or if they require a lot of pruning or beat back. They seemed rather stationary, not like Albizia or shrubby-spready stuff. I love the look of them; very mangrove-ish!
AKpilot
We're all here, because we're not all there!
We're all here, because we're not all there!
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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.
I love the screw pines everyone around me seems to hate them and is desperate to cut them all down.
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I did not realize hala trees have separate sexes. Yesterday at a BISS potluck small halas were being given away but I took only one. If I'd realized the hala has separate sexes then I'd have taken at least three to up the odds of getting both a male and a female in the mix, to plant near one another for eventually producing fertile seed. In good growing conditions how many years will it be before one can discern whether a tree is male or female?
Regarding some native trees not liking much nitrogen, is it actually that the nitrogen in reasonable moderation has an ill effect on them or that weedy invasives are better able to take advantage of it and so overgrow the native species adapted to a low nitrogen soil regime? I am wondering because if it is that the nitrogen has a toxic effect then I should probably repot that hala (which I planted in fairly N-abundant soil mix), whereas if it is just that weeds grow faster in high-N then the little hala is OK as is, since I will keep it weeded.
Thanks in advance for any coaching on this.
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The Hala male flower (hinano) is a nicely fragrant "blossom" of bleached looking bracts and creamy colored pollen clusters
In the future, do not bother with good quality planting mixes for hala, as they grow well in some of the more harsh conditions here. UH native plant link:
http://nativeplants.hawaii.edu/plant/vie..._tectorius
In most of the soil studies I have read, it is that nitrogen in more beneficial to the non-native plants & they then have a growth advantage... some natives do better with nitrogen, others do not seem to have any biomass advantage with nitrogen... Peter Vitousek is one of the researchers that has done a lot of studies on Mauna Loa & Mauna Kea soils & plant growth....
The big reason NOT to add more N would be that it ag N fertilizer is the main pollution in the water runoff on island & creates N seeding in the ocean which in turn causes eutrophication & "dead zones" esp. in coral areas....
One of the endemic ferns I have found most interesting is one many do not really appreciate, the uluhe fern, D. linearis, that actually can trap nutrients in decomposing matter in its' "tangle", and its stem lignon is tougher than most to resist rotting, Sci. Paper
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0266-46...0.CO%3B2-X
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There is also an attractive variegated Hala, I have a couple young ones. Im not sure on the relation between the 2 types of Hala but I believe the variegated dont have thorns on the edges of the leaves like the indigenous Hala does. Mine are so young Im not 100% positive though....
Very important tree to Early Hawaiians, right behind the coconut. They plaited mats from the Hala leaves, for sails flooring walls roofs etc.
Hala is a slow grower and far smaller than the very fast growing Albizia, most Hala are within a 1/4 mile of coast (their natural environment), Albizia go farther in and much higher into upper Puna
If your lot has Hala trees you are lucky 
Besides the nasty Albizia... other "weed trees" you may see in your lot.... Waiwi (guava) trees, Autograph trees, Gunpowder trees, African Tulip trees, Trumpet Trees, Melochia, Melastoma, Koster's Curse...
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
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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
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I live in Waawaa likely near where you are looking and can help you with info as well as general area issues. Please email me directly.
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