Nestegis sandwicensis

Nestegis sandwicensis, commonly known as Hawai'i olive[2] or olopua, is a species of flowering tree in the olive family, Oleaceae, that is endemic to Hawaii.[3] It is found on all major islands at elevations of 30–1,300 m (98–4,265 ft) in coastal mesic and mixed mesic forests,[4] 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).[5]

Nestegis sandwicensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Oleaceae
Genus: Nestegis
Species:
N. sandwicensis
Binomial name
Nestegis sandwicensis
Synonyms[1]
  • Olea sandwicensis A.Gray
  • Osmanthus sandwicensis (A.Gray) Benth. & Hook.f. ex B.D.Jacks.
  • Gymnelaea sandwicensis (A.Gray) L.A.S.Johnson

Uses

Native Hawaiians used the hard wood of olopua to make ʻau koʻi (adze handles), apuapu (rasps for making fish hooks), ʻōʻō (digging sticks), lāʻau 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).[6]

References
  1. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, Nestegis sandwicensis
  2. "Nestegis sandwicensis". Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Database. USDA. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  3. Otto Degener, Isa Degener, & Lawrence Alexander Sidney Johnson. 1958. Flora Hawaiiensis; the New Illustrated Flora of the Hawaiian Islands. Honolulu, fam 300
  4. "olopua, pua, ulupua". Hawaii Ethnobotany Online Database. Bernice P. Bishop Museum. Retrieved 2009-11-20.
  5. Gray, Asa. 1862. Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences V: 331. Olea sandwicensis
  6. Medeiros, A. C.; C.F. Davenport; C.G. Chimera (1998). "Auwahi: Ethnobotany of a Hawaiian Dryland Forest" (PDF). Cooperative National Park Resources Studies Unit, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

Further reading
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