From Common Forest Trees of Hawaii

Lama
Diospyros sandwicensis
Persimmon family (Ebenaceae)

Native species ()

Lama is widespread through the islands, especially in dry forests, and one of the most common trees. It has thick or elliptical dull green leaves spreading in two rows on nearly horizontal twigs, small whitish flowers mostly single and almost stalkless at leaf bases, and yellow to orange egg-shaped or elliptical 5⁄8–3⁄4 inch (15–20 ) long.


©2010 Forest And Kim Starr
A handsome small to medium-sized tree of 20–40 ft (6–12 m) in height and 1 ft (0.3 m) in trunk diameter. Bark blackish or dark gray, thick, from smoothish becoming rough and furrowed into irregular squares. Inner bark is pink streaked, astringent and bitter. Twigs gray, finely hairy when young, with raised dots, becoming cracked and rough. Buds less than 5⁄16 inch (5 ) long, covered by finely hairy overlapping .

in two rows, with short brown hairy leaf-stalks of 1⁄4 inch (6 ). or elliptical, 1 1⁄4–2 1⁄2 inches (3–6 ) long and 5⁄8–1 1⁄4 inches (1.5–3 ) wide, blunt or short-pointed at , rounded at base, slightly turned under at edges, thick and stiff, slightly curved up on sides from , with side veins fine and not visible, red with pink flushes and hairy when young, above dull green, beneath dull light green.

Flowers male and female on different plants (), single and almost stalkless at leaf bases, about 1⁄4 inch (6 ) long. Male flowers have hairy greenish tubular with 3–4 blunt , tubular bell-shaped whitish with three spreading , and 12–18 . Female flowers have , , and with hairy three-celled and three-forked .

() egg-shaped or elliptical, 5⁄8–3⁄4 inch (15–20 ) long, slightly curved on one side to blunt with point from ; at base is the enlarged cup-shaped finely hairy light green 1⁄4 inch (6 ) long with 3–4 blunt or rounded ; yellow flesh or dry. Seeds single or sometimes two, elliptical and flattened, 5⁄8 inch (15 ) long, brown.

often are abundant at maturity in late winter, especially February. Mature are sweetish and eaten by birds and people. Immature , however, are slightly astringent, like those of their close relatives on the continental United States, persimmons (Diospyros virginiana L.).

The sapwood is wide and white. The heartwood is described as rich reddish-brown with redder and yellower zones, very hard, fine-textured, and straight grained. Hawaiians used the white wood as blocks in their altars to symbolize the goddess Laka, and to fence sacred enclosures. The place name Kapalama in Honolulu means lama fence and referred to a former fence around the school for the chief’s children there. The wood is not presently used.

Widespread and common in dry and wet regions through the islands down to sea level.

Special areas
Kokee, Waimea Arboretum, Wahiawa, Volcanoes

Champion
Height 35 ft (10.7 m), c.b.h. 2.8 ft (0.9 m), spread 17 ft (5.2 m). Puuwaawaa Ranch, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii (1968).

Range
All main Hawaiian Islands

Botanical
Maba sandwicensis A. DC., Diospyros ferrea var. sandwicensis (A. DC.) Bakh.

This variable species has many varieties. The common name lama means enlightenment.

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

cm -- A centimeter which is about 0.4 inches.

dioecious -- When male and female reproductive structures are on separate plants.

leaves alternate along the main stem and are attached singly.

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.

scale -- A very small leaf around a dormant bud. Also other things that might remind one of fish scales on the surface of ferns, stems and the like.

midrib -- The central and most prominent vein of a leaf or leaf-like thing.

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

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

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.

alternate -- leaves alternate along the main stem and are attached singly.

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.

corolla -- The name for all the petals of a flower taken together.

The botanical term "berry" is different from common usage. Strawberries and raspberries are not berries. But a tomatoe is. A true berry is a fruit with the seeds immersed in the pulp.

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.