From Common Forest Trees of Hawaii

Pāpala Kēpau
Ceodes brunoniana
Verbena/Four-O'Clock family (Nyctaginaceae)

Native species ()

Small native tree of dry forests, with paired elliptical leaves, very large open flower clusters with many small flowers on long slender widely forking stalks, and narrow sticky . To about 18 ft (5.5 m) and 4 inches (110 ) in trunk diameter. Bark light gray or light brown, smoothish; inner bark whitish, slightly bitter. Twigs green to brown. Young twigs and leaves with tiny pressed brown hairs.


©2012 Eric White
, with leaf-stalks of 1⁄2–1 inch (13–25 ). elliptical or , 2 1⁄2–5 1⁄2 inches (6–14 ) long and 1 1⁄4–3 1⁄4 inches (3–8 ) wide, blunt at , short-pointed at base, not on edges, thin, hairless, shiny green above, dull light green beneath.

Flower clusters () , very large and open or loose, 6–12 inches (15–30 ) long and broad. Flowers many, small, on many long slender widely forking stalks, 3⁄8 inch (10 ) long, composed of greenish tubular or narrowly funnel-shaped finely hairy with five short, pinkish , 8–12 attached inside tube and extending beyond, and with narrow , long , and dot .

() narrowly cylindrical, consisting of enlarged 3⁄4–1 3⁄8 inches (20–35 ) long and 1⁄8 inch (3 ) in diameter, widest at middle, spreading at , five-ridged, sticky and exuding glue, enclosing the narrow one-seeded () with at .

Wood is whitish yellow, very lightweight, very soft, and brittle. It “honeycombs” in air drying and is not used.

Widespread in dry forests and at edges of lava fields, mostly at 2000–4000 ft (610–1219 m) altitude.

Special areas
Wahiawa, Volcanoes

Champion
Height 50 ft (15.2 m), c.b.h. 6.3 ft (1.9 m), spread 31 ft (9.4 m). Hoomau Ranch, Honomalino, Hawaii (1968).

Range
Oahu, Lanai, Maui, Hawaii only

Botanical
Pisonia brunoniana Endl., Heimerliodendron brunoianum (Endl.) Skottsb., Pisonia inermis G. Forst., not Jacq.

The Hawaiian common name pāpala kēpau is from kepau, the name for tar, pitch, etc. A sticky liquid or glue exudes from the and catches insects. Hawaiians formerly used the viscous as birdlime to catch small birds.

stamen -- the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower; The stamen consists of an anther supported by a filament.

An accessory fruit or anthocarp is when some of the flesh is derived not from the floral ovary but from some adjacent tissue. Examples are pear, fig and strawberry.

cm -- A centimeter which is about 0.4 inches.

achene -- a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. For example, a rose hip holds a few achenes.

In an opposite leaf arrangement the leaves come in pairs with one leaf on each side of a stem.

stigma - The tip of a pistil that receives the pollen.

endemic -- when restricted to a certain country or area.

style -- This is a long and thread-like structure that connects the stigma with the ovary. A flower may have a single style, or several of them.

The apex is the tip or the furthest point from the attachment.

terminal -- Located at the end (the tip or the apex).

Like the teeth on a saw, leaves and other surfaces can have toothed edges.

A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. The bottom flowers in a panicle open first.

A pistil is the female structure of many flowers. It contains one or more carpels. Each carpel contins an ovary, style and stigma. The stigma receives the pollen which grows thru the style to reach the ovary.

oblong -- Having an elongated form with somewhat parallel sides. Rectangular.

An evergreen tree retains a large portion of its green leaves all year.

lobe -- A rounded parts of a leaf (or other organ).

calyx -- the sepals of a flower, typically forming a whorl that encloses the petals and forms a protective layer around a flower in bud.

fruit -- any seed-bearing structure in flowering plants. It is formed from the ovary after flowering.

synonym -- In botany a synonym is a species name that at one time was thought to be the correct name for a plant but was later found to be incorrect and has been replaced by a new name.

mm -- millimeter. About 1/25th of an inch.

An ovary is a part of the female reproductive organ of the flower. Above the ovary is the style and the stigma, which is where the pollen lands and germinates to grow down through the style to the ovary.

blade -- Just the flat part of a leaf. Not the stem.