Perrottetia sandwicensis

leaf Main Plant Information

Genus

Perrottetia

Species

sandwicensis

Hawaiian Names with Diacritics

  • Olomea
  • Puaʻa olomea
  • Waimea

Hawaiian Names

  • Olomea
  • Puaa olomea
  • Waimea

leaf Plant Characteristics

Distribution Status

Endemic

Endangered Species Status

No Status

Plant Form / Growth Habit

  • Shrub
  • Tree

Mature Size, Height (in feet)

  • Shrub, Medium, 6 to 10
  • Shrub, Tall, Greater than 10
  • Tree, Dwarf, Less than 15
  • Tree, Small, 15 to 30
  • Tree, Medium, 30 to 50

Mature Size, Width

Mature shrubs or small trees can be 10 to 15 feet or more wide.

Life Span

Long lived (Greater than 5 years)

Landscape Uses

  • Specimen Plant

Additional Landscape Use Information

Presently, rarely seen in landscapes.

Trees should grow well in wet windward sides of the islands at lower elevations (e.g. a nursery in Hilo, Hawaiʻi Island). [David Eickhoff, Native Plants Hawaiʻi]

Plant Produces Flowers

Yes

leaf Flower Characteristics

Flower Type

Not Showy

Flower Colors

  • Green
  • Orange
  • Red

Additional Flower Color Information

The greenish orange to red flowers can be attractive when seen along with the clustered panicles (bunches) of fruit hanging from the branches. [1]

Blooming Period

  • Sporadic
  • January
  • March
  • April
  • August
  • September
  • October
  • November
  • December

Additional Blooming Period and Fruiting Information

Olomea is especially attractive when fruiting during the months of October and November. [1,6] However, plants have been observed flowering and fruiting into December and January. [David Eickhoff, Native Plants Hawaiʻi]

Additionally, photographic evidence shows it flowering in the months of March, May, April, August and September. [7]

leaf Leaf Characteristics

Plant texture

  • Medium

Leaf Colors

  • Light Green
  • Medium Green
  • Red

leaf Pests and Diseases

leaf Growth Requirements

Water Requirements

  • Wet

Soil must be well drained

Yes

Light Conditions

  • Partial sun
  • Shade

Soils

  • Organic

leaf Environmental Information

Natural Range

  • Kauaʻi
  • Oʻahu
  • Molokaʻi
  • Lānaʻi
  • Maui
  • Hawaiʻi

Natural Zones (Elevation in feet, Rainfall in inches)

  • 150 to 1000, 50 to 100 (Mesic)
  • 150 to 1000, Greater than 100 (Wet)
  • 1000 to 1999, 50 to 100 (Mesic)
  • 1000 to 1999, Greater than 100 (Wet)
  • 2000 to 2999, 50 to 100 (Mesic)
  • 2000 to 2999, Greater than 100 (Wet)
  • 3000 to 3999, 50 to 100 (Mesic)
  • 3000 to 3999, Greater than 100 (Wet)
  • 4000 to 4999, 50 to 100 (Mesic)
  • 4000 to 4999, Greater than 100 (Wet)

Habitat

  • Terrestrial

Additional Habitat Information

A rather common understory plant in its habitat in both wet and dry forests from from about 985 to over 4100 feet, but to over 6000 feet on Maui. [1]

leaf Special Features and Information

General Information

Perrottetia, formerly in Celastraceae, is now in Dipentodontaceae or the Dipentodon family. Of the fifteen to perhaps as many as thirty species in the genus Perrottetia, there are two native species endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.

A new species Perrottetia wichmaniorum has recently been described from Kauaʻi and is IUCN listed Endangered. [8]

Etymology

The generic name Perrottetia is named for Georges Guerrard Samuel Perrottet (1793-1870), Swiss-born French gardener, agronomical botanist, and government botanist.

The specific epithet sandwicensis refers to the "Sandwich Islands," as the Hawaiian Islands were once called, and named by James Cook on one of his voyages in the 1770s. James Cook named the islands after John Montagu (The fourth Earl of Sandwich) for supporting Cook's voyages.

Hawaiian Names:

The name Olomea is also used for brown, with darker spots or stripes, of a dog or pig. [5]

Puaʻa olomea means a striped pig. [5]

Waimea is a Maui name for this plant. This name is also a Kauaʻi name for a kind of māmaki, having leaves with red veins and stems resembling those of olomea. [5] Waimea is a name used for towns on Kauaʻi and Hawaiʻi Island and for the Waimea Bay & Valley on the north shore of Oʻahu. The name literally means "Reddish Water," from the red soil erosion into the streams.

Early Hawaiian Use

Fire Production:

The golden brown moderately hard wood of olomea was used by early Hawaiians to ignite fires. The two sticks that were used together is called aunaki. An upper piece of olomea was rubbed against the lower piece of the softer wood of hau (Hibiscus tiliaceus) to create friction and produce fire. [1,3,4,5,6]

Medicinal:

The flowers and leaves were used to treat ʻea (thrush) and pāʻaoʻao (childhood disease, with physical weakening). [2]

Additional References

[1] "The Indigenous Trees of the Hawaiian Islands" by J.F. Rock, page 269.

[2] "Native Hawaiian Medicine--Volume III" by The Rev. Kaluna M. Kaʻaiakamanu, pages 81-82.

[3] "In Gardens of Hawaii" by Marie C. Neal, page 530.

[4] "Lāʻau Hawaiʻi: Traditional Hawaiian Uses of Plants" by Isabella Aiona Abbott, page 93.

[5] http://www.wehewehe.org [Accessed on 10/05/11]

[6] "Common Forest Trees of Hawaii (Native and Introduced)" by Elbert L. Little Jr. and Roger G. Skolmen, page 202.

[7] http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=Perrottetia%20sandwicensis [Accessed on 11/22/11]

[8] "Perrottetia wichmaniorum (Dipentodontaceae), a new species from Kauaʻi, Hawaiian Islands" by PhytoKeys 115: 93-103 (2019)

 

PHOTOS FOR THIS SPECIES CAN BE SEEN AT THE LINK (Copy & Paste to your browser):

https://www.flickr.com/search/?user_id=50823119%40N08&sort=date-taken-desc&view_all=1&text=Perrottetia%20sandwicensis

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