From Common Forest Trees of Hawaii

Wiliwili
Erythrina sandwicensis
Pea family (Fabaceae)

Native species ()

Small native tree, originally one for the most common in dry regions, characterized by short spines, leaves with three broadly triangular and showy orange, yellow, salmon, greenish or whitish flowers when leafless. Pea subfamily (Faboideae).


©2005 Forest And Kim Starr
Tree 15–30 ft (4.5–0 ) tall, with short stout crooked or gnarled trunk 1–3 ft (0.3–0.9 ) in diameter, stiff spreading branches, and broad thin becoming wider than high. Bark smoothish, light to reddish brown, with scattered stout gray or black spines to 3⁄8 inch (1 ) long, becoming slightly fissured, thin. Inner bark is light yellow beneath the green outer layer, gritty and slightly bitter. Twigs nearly horizontal, stout, green and with yellowish hairs when young, with scattered blackish prickles or spines.

Leaves 5–12 inches (13–30 ) long, with long slender leaf-stalk 3 1⁄2–10 inches (9–25 ) long. three, short-stalked, two paired and one largest at end, broadly triangular, 1 1⁄2–4 inches (4–10 ) long and 2 1⁄2–6 inches (6–15 ) wide, slightly broader than long, short-pointed at and almost straight at base, thin, becoming nearly hairless above, beneath yellow hairy with raised veins, with two dot-like at base of each and one or two at base of leafstalk.

Flower clusters () are near the ends of twigs, at the end of yellow hairy stalks of 3 inches (7.5 ) or less. Flowers many, crowded in mass 3–6 inches (7.5–15 ) long, short-stalked, composed of cuplike densely yellow hairy 5⁄8 inch (15 ) long, curved and split open on one side; orange, yellow, salmon, greenish, or whitish with one very large elliptical curved petal (standard) about 1 1⁄2 inches (4 ) long and four small petals (wings and ) about 1⁄2 inch (13 ) long; 10 orange or yellow curved about 1 1⁄2 inches (3 ) long, nine united in lower half and one separate; and with stalked narrow densely. hairy and slender curved or straight

(pods) about 4 inches (10 ) long and 1⁄2 inch (13 ) broad, flattened, long-pointed at both ends slightly narrowed between seeds, blackish, hard-walled, splitting open. Seeds 1–5, beanlike, elliptical, 1⁄2–5⁄8 inch (13–15 ) long, shiny orange red.

The wood is pale yellow brown, soft, very lightweight and coarse-textured. Hawaiians used it for fishnet floats, outriggers of canoes, and surfboards.

The flowers, mostly orange but varying in color on different trees, are borne from early spring to July, while the trees are leafless.

Hawaiians strung into leis the bright red seeds, which probably are poisonous. Seeds of several other members of the contain alkaloids similar to curare. However, a large number of seeds would have to be cooked and eaten to be harmful. Captain James Cook was given leis made of wiliwili seeds and the worn bases of conus shells (“puka” shells) when he visited the islands in 1778.

Wiliwili was one of the most common native trees in the dry forests at low altitudes of 500–2000 ft (152–610 ) on the lee side of the Hawaiian Islands. It is characteristic of the barren, rough aa lava flows. At present, it has been largely replaced by kiawe (Prosopis pallida), but may still be seen in the dry gullies on the lee side of all islands. It is particularly common along the road from Ulupalakua to Kaupo on Maui and frequent in the dry forest near Puuwaawaa on Hawaii. There are several trees still surviving on the goat ravaged island of Kahoolawe. The Division of Forestry has planted more than 6000 wiliwili trees in Forest Reserves, 4000 of them on Molokai on the land of Palaau.

Wiliwili should be planted more often, since it thrives where other trees cannot survive. It is easily propagated by seeds and cuttings.

Special areas
Foster, Koko, Wahiawa, Waimea Arboretum, Volcanoes

Champion
Height 55 ft (16.8 ), c.b.h. 12.5 ft (3.8 ), spread 57 ft 917.4 ). Puuwaawaa Ranch, North Kona, Hawaii (1968).

Range
Known only from Hawaiian Islands. A closely related species in Tahiti.

Other common names
Hawaiian erythrina, Hawaiian coraltree

Botanical
Erythrina monosperma Gaud., not Lam.

Trees of many species of Erythrina from around the world can be seen at Waimea Arboretum.

cm -- A centimeter which is about 0.4 inches.

m -- A meter is about 10% larger than a yard.

Glands are plant structures that secrete liquids, salts or other substances. Glands often appear as hairs with a drop of liquid at the end.

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.

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

A raceme is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along its axis.

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.

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

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.

A leaf is compound when multiple leaflets are on the same stem.

canopy -- The foliage of a tree; the crown. Also the upper layer of a forest.

leaflets -- Each little leaf-like thing in a compound leaf is a leaflet.

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.

deciduous plants are those that lose all of their leaves for part of the year.

keel petels -- In a pea flower the two bottom petals are fused together forming a boat-like structure called the keel.

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.

genus -- A subdivision of a botanical Family in which all members have a significant number of similar characteristics.