www.waimeavalley.net - Waimea Valley Hiking Programs, Hawaii Botanical, Archeological and History Hikes.
In ancient Hawai'i, plants played an important part in all aspect of life. Plants were not only a food source, but were used in medicines, building, clothing, weapons, and as food containers.
The kāhuna were skilled in utilizing the plants around them for medicines and religious ceremonies. The ti plant was used to reduce fevers, while the ginger root was mashed and mixed with salt water for a purification mixture. kō (sugar cane) juice helped make medicines more palatable.
Early Hawaiians used koa wood for building canoes and surfboards, and the wauke for pounding into tapa cloth. Leaves of the ahuhu were crushed and put in tide pools where it made fish an easy prey by immobilizing them.
This garden highlights many of the plants utilized by ancient Hawaiians and has individual markers telling the specific uses. A row of ti plants separates the edible from the non edible plant sections. The small medicinal garden is planted under and around 2 Milo trees.
As you enter this collection from the upper road you'll see an 'ulu (breadfruit) tree, and beyond it are tall, flowering ko (sugar cane) plants surrounding three fenced kalo (taro) plantings. Hawaiian varieties of mai'a (banana) are planted near the kalo beds, and beyond them are two 'ohi'a 'ai (mountain apple) trees from the South Pacific which fruit twice a year. The ground covers under the sugar cane are varieties of 'uala (sweet potato). These can be recognized by their flowers which resemble miniature morning glories which are closely related.
Our named varieties of 'uala are being grown the traditional way a bit further up the Valley- the tubers grow in loamy soil in low rock cylinders. You can see these by the edge of the grass near the banyan tree.
After walking past the kalo beds you'll see a row of ti plants separating the edible from the non-edible plant sections. A medicinal garden is planted under and around two milo trees, hibiscus relatives with excellent wood brought by the Polynesians. Across the trail in the non-edible section are two calabash trees. These along with the Kona orange tree in the food section did not get to Hawai`i until after western contact. The thin-shelled calabash fruit, about 6" in diameter, surprisingly grow right from the bar of the tree. Calabash's gourd-like fruits were used as bowls and made into musical instruments. In this same area is the only type of bamboo early Hawaiians used and the favorite loulu palm species used for thatching.