MAILE-ALYXIA-STELLATA

MAILE (ALYXIA STELLATA)

DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS

  • often a vine climbing on nearby vegetation when more than 12 inches long
  • leaves opposite each other in pairs on stem, occasionally with three leaves opposite each other in whorls of three leaves
  • crushed or torn leaves have white, milky latex juice exuding from break in leaf

TRADITIONAL HAWAIIAN USES

  • widely used by Native Hawaiians for lei making
  • one of five native plant species offered on hula altar for the four maile sisters
  • fragrance of the maile plant due to presence of coumarin, found in all plant parts

HAWAIIAN RAIN FOREST ECOLOGY

  • grows as slender, woody vine, climbing or twining on other vegetation
  • in rain forest, grows best in canopy gaps with higher light levels
  • all maile plants in Ni`aulani are plantings

 

MᾹMAKI-PIPTURUS-ALBIDUS
A section of MᾹMAKI (PIPTURUS ALBIDUS) vine.

HOW TO SAY “MAILE” IN HAWAIIAN