Natural History

IRONWOOD
(Casuarina equisetifolia.)

The common ironwood is a native to Northern Australia, where it is called “beefwood” or “she oak.” It has been cultivated and naturalized in many tropical and subtropical regions and ranges from India and Australia to Southeastern Polynesia as well as in Hawaii.

The Latin name for the trees is supposed to be a reference to a large Australian bird, the Cassowary. The long, thin, drooping, dull green needles are tufted like the feathers of the bird. The trees reputedly are long-lived; some trees growing in Malaysia are said to be several hundred years old. It was introduced to Hawaii in 1882 at Kilohana Crater in Kauai. Ironwood is a fast-growing tree, reaching heights of more than 60 feet within 10 years. Near sea level, the trees will grow large and tall, up to 120 to 150 feet. In Hawaii, the tree was widely planted as a rapid growing tree for watershed protection, as wind breaks, and as soil and sand binders. It is found cultivated and naturalized throughout the drier environments of Hawaii from sea level to above the 3,000 foot elevation. The trees are most commonly seen along seacoasts and as screens in some of the older, larger island gardens.

Hawaiians call this tree paina luheluhe, “weeping pine.” In appearance, they do look like pine trees with long needles on flexible, drooping branches, but, actually, ironwood trees are not pine trees and they do not have true leaves. The “needles” are thread-shaped, jointed, greenish branchlets. At each branchlet joint or node, there are five to fifteen tiny, brownish, toothed bumps that are really degenerate leaves. The overall effect evokes thoughts of horsetails.

During May and June male and female flowers are borne separately. The small male flowers form brownish cylinder-like tips at the ends of some branchlets. The small female flowers form red clusters at the base of the branchlets.

Ironwood fruit are cone-like in shape, and turn from green to brown as they ripen. When mature, they are about Ÿ to one inch long, flattened at both ends, with hardened bracts, each containing a flat, one-winged seed. They are often used in seed lei. The bark of the trees is light to dark gray. In other Pacific islands, where the plant was probably introduced in prehistoric times, ironwood is a source of medicine because of the high tannin concentration in its astringent bark (18 percent, according to one study conducted in 1951). Teas made from the shredded bark have been used since ancient times as an emetic to treat coughs and throat infections. They have been used to soothe stomachaches, asthma, mouth infections, urinary tract infections, nervous disorders, diabetes and even gonorrhea.

The trunk wood is dark red and very tough. The dense wood is as hard as oak and makes fine firewood. It has been used in other parts of the South Pacific in place of koa, for war clubs, spears, kapa beaters, tool handles and large fish hooks. Many mysterious powers are attributed to ironwood in that part of the world. It is said that in the shadow of the tree at full moon, the secrets of the future may be heard. When you hear the gentle sighing of the wind through the tree branches, it is easy to understand why.

Some believe that ironwood trees are a symbol of faithfulness. Over much of Polynesia, the tree was a symbol for warriors, and the tree is called the “warrior tree.” In Tahiti, the trees are sacred to the war god ‘Oro whose images were carved from its wood. The plant is very tough, withstanding severe winds and salt sea spray and thriving in poor soil. Like the cactus, it is highly specialized for existence in very dry areas. Biologist Otto Degener points out that the plant thrives in areas where most plants with normal leaves would perish from drought. He says, “Its leaves have degenerated to such an extent that they are almost non-functional, the green stems functioning in their stead. By dispensing with leaves, the plant has enormously reduced the surface that it would otherwise expose to the drying rays of the sun. And to conserve the moisture that would normally escape from the inner tissues of the plant, the microscopic air-pores or stomata necessary for respiration have sunk into sheltered grooves in the slender green stems.”

Although they are a most useful and interesting plant, ironwoods often grow into a thick stand that virtually chokes out the growth of almost all other plants, and they take so much nutrients from the soil that few other plants are able to grow next to them. The thick roots have been known to break up pavement.

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Arts & Culture

ALAU ISLAND

A quarter mile offshore from Hamoa Beach Road, directly across from Koki Beach Park, ’Alau (“many rocks”) Island sits on the far side of a treacherous, rocky channel. Pele, it is said, broke open the earth on the side of the hill called Ka-iwi-o-Pele, close to the sea at Leho’ula, where there is a natural sea arch. She formed the 4.5 acre rocky island just outside Haneo’o. Others say it is a piece of the new land mass the demigod Maui had hooked and was in the process of raising up; When he (or maybe it was one of his brothers) looked back, the whole thing shattered...which is why we have islands instead of a continent.

The extensive area of whitewater around the islet is a warning sign that rip-currents and exposed rocks make swimming unsafe. Its 40-foot summit, crowned by two coconut palms, occasionally gets sprayed by crashing waves. Some say the two trees were planted by star-crossed lovers. Others say there used to be three trees, planted by soldiers who went to war. Two came back, one did not.

Frigate birds nest on the rocky island and dance through the sky around it, floating in the breezes above the shore. Maui historian Inez Ashdown said the islet was used as a place of sacred study.

One chronicle in Thomas Thrum’s “Hawaiian Annual” for 1902, recounts the story about the legendary ‘Ai’ai, who was credited with teaching fishermen how to mark fishing stations by onshore sightings as well as establishing the religious practices of island fishermen. ‘Ai’ai, after being born and growing up in the Hana district, hooked and killed the eel Koona, a famous Molokai puhi, who had emigrated to the area and was raiding ‘Ai’ai’s father’s fishpond at Lehoula. The eel lived a few miles from the shore to the southeast of the rocky islet in a sea cave that was called “Kapukaulua,” the ulua (parrotfish) hole.

‘Ai’ai’s father was Ku’ula, the king’s head fisherman, a man who was supernaturally endowed with the ability to attract and influence fish. At his father’s command, ‘Ai’ai worked out a plan to destroy the eel. He attached a magic hook to a long hau rope he made. He enlisted the help of the villagers living at Hamoa and Haneo’o, who held one end of the long rope, and the people living at Aleamai, who held the other end. When the eel grabbed the hook, ‘Ai’ai signaled and the people began pulling their ends of the rope in a great tug of war. The people at Aleamai landed the puhi at Lehoula and ‘Ai’ai killed it with three stones. The head was cut off and cooked in an imu. (The bones of its jaw with the mouth wide open, is seen to this day, still awash in the waves.) The back bone of the puhi, which is about thirty feet in length and exactly resembles the backbone of an eel, it still lies on the smooth pahoehoe lava where ‘Ai’ai killed it.

Because ‘Ai’ai killed Koona, the eel’s caretaker swore vengeance on Ku’ula and his family and came to Hana from Molokai. The caretaker caused Ku’ula to fall into disfavor with the king, who ordered that Ku’ula and his family be burned alive in their house. Ku’ula and his wife died in the flames, but not before Ku’ula gave his son ‘Ai’ai all of his powerful talismans and his sacred knowledge, and helped the boy to escape death by fire.

‘Ai’ai caused the fish to leave the area until the king repented of his evil act. Then, ‘Ai’ai took pity on the people and called the fish back. The king, who was given the first of the catch of fish as usual, choked to death on a fish bone. After that, ‘Ai’ai established the first fishing ground at the sea cave where the eel from Molokai had been caught. Other fishing grounds followed and he went on to establish the practice of constructing ku’ula, small fishing shrines. ’Ai’ai traveled all over Maui and to all of the islands, establishing fishing grounds and teaching the fishermen how to make the shrines. It was believed that it was the power of the ku’ula that attracted the fish they caught.

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Braddah-Nics Lexicon

STANDARD: It makes life difficult when you act like that.
BRADDAH-NICS: 'As why hard, you make li' dat.

* * * * * *

STANDARD: I was so embarrased for him I had to look away.
BRADDAH-NICS: I jus' went turn around...ai, ka shame!

* * * * * *

STANDARD: My mother and my aunts were very moved.
BRADDAH-NICS: My maddah dem cry up.

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Local Grinds

Manapua

Ingredients:

• 5 or 6 cups flour
• 2 tablespoon shortening
• 1 tablespoon yeast
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 3/4 cup warm water
• char siu

Procedure:

• Combine yeast and water until yeast is dissolved.
• Add shortening and sugar, then mix in five or six cups flour, depending on how stiff you want the dough.
• Knead ingredients until a smooth dough forms.
• Cover and let rise at room temerature for 2 to 4 hours dough height has about doubled.
  
• Once dough has risen, chop or slice char siu into small pieces.
• Slice dough into 24 circular portions, gently flattening each.
• Place char siu in middle of each circle.
• Pleat dough edges and wrap into a bun, pinching all edges togeether to close.
• Place each bun on square wax paper, arrange in steamer about 1/2 in apart, and let steam on high for 15-20 minutes.
• Let cool and serve.

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