April is 

native hawaiian plant month

At 808 Cleanups, Native Hawaiian plants play a pivotal role in our restoration efforts. They prevent soil erosion, create homes for native insects and birds, help prevent wildfires, and are woven into the culture and beauty of our islands. Our goal is complete ecosystem restoration, and we can't do that without nurturing Native Hawaiian plants. In this month's newsletter, we wanted to highlight a few of our favorites. 

Nohu thrives in coastal environments, where it can tolerate high wind, salt spray, and drought conditions. It has sharp thorns on the fruit that are very painful to step on if barefoot. The early Hawaiians also gave the name nohu to the scorpionfish with poisonous spines. 

Naio have an almost constant flowering period with small white to purple-pink flowers. It was a very important wood in old Hawaii, used for net gauges and repairing homes. Its size and form can change, but generally it appears as a many-branched shrub to a small tree.

 

Some naio flowers have a spicy sandalwood-like fragrance. In fact, during the Sandalwood Trade, naio was unsuccessfully used to try and pass as genuine 'iliahi or sandalwood. It fooled no one and was rejected by importers.

The nanea provides other plants growing in the area with a ready source of free fertilizer in the form of nitrogen. You can commonly find nanea growing as a vine ground cover between naupaka kahakai, ʻakiʻaki, and pōhuehue.

 

It plays an important role in coastal restoration, and it is often used in lei making.