Nestegis sandwicensis

Nestegis sandwicensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Lamiales
Family:	Oleaceae
Genus:	Nestegis
Species:	N. sandwicensis
Binomial name
Nestegis sandwicensis (A.Gray) O.Deg., I.Deg. & L.A.S.Johnson
Synonyms
Osmanthus sandwicensis (A.Gray) Knobl.[1]

Nestegis sandwicensis, commonly known as Olopua, is a species of flowering tree in the olive family, Oleaceae, that is endemic to Hawaii. It is found on all major islands at elevations of 30–1,300 m (98–4,300 ft) in coastal mesic and mixed mesic forests,^[2] and, especially, dry forests. It usually reaches a height of 6 m (20 ft) with a trunk diameter of 0.2 m (0.66 ft), but may reach 20 m (66 ft) in height with a trunk diameter of 0.9 m (3.0 ft).^[1]

Uses

Native Hawaiians used the hard wood of olopua to make ʻau koʻi (adze handles), apuapu (rasps for making fish hooks), ʻōʻō (digging sticks), laʻau melomelo (fishing lures), pou (house posts), pāhoa (daggers), pīkoi (tripping weapons similar to a rope dart), and spears. Because the wood burned well even if green, it was used as wahie (firewood).^[3]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Little Jr., Elbert L.; Roger G. Skolmen (1989) (PDF). Olopua, pua. United States Forest Service. http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/forestry/trees/CommonTreesHI/CFT_Osmanthus_sandwicensis.pdf. 
2. ^ "olopua, pua, ulupua". Hawaii Ethnobotany Online Database. Bernice P. Bishop Museum. http://www2.bishopmuseum.org/ethnobotanydb/resultsdetailed.asp?search=olopua. Retrieved 2009-11-20. 
3. ^ Medeiros, A. C.; C.F. Davenport; C.G. Chimera (1998) (PDF). Auwahi: Ethnobotany of a Hawaiian Dryland Forest. Cooperative National Park Resources Studies Unit, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. http://www.hear.org/naturalareas/auwahi/ethnobotany_of_auwahi.pdf. 

Further reading

• Krauss, Beatrice H. (1993). Plants in Hawaiian Culture. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0824812255. 

External links

• "Olopua". Native Hawaiian Plants. Kapiʻolani Community College. http://old.kcc.hawaii.edu/campus/tour/plants/polopua.htm.