Neke
Cyclosorus interruptus
Medium-size ferns about 2 feet tall with light green fronds and creeping rhizomes (stems). Each frond comprises 20 or so pairs of pinnae, or smaller, evenly spaced frondlets. The rhizomes are covered in brown hairs. Overall, this is an attractive fern that has the potential to be a great addition to the landscape industry.
ʻElua kapuaʻi nā oho o ka neke. Kolo nā aʻa huluhulu o ka neke. Nani nō ka neke ke kanu ʻia ma ka māla.
This fern unlike most ferns is normally found in wet marshy areas like Kawainui or on the margins of estuaries and streams. It is an indigenous fern found on all the larger ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi Islands as well as throughout the Pacific and Tropical Asia.
Ulu ka neke ma ka naele e like me Kawainui, a ulu hoʻi ma kapa kahawai. Ulu ma nā mokupuni nui a pau, a ulu nō hoʻi ma Moananuiākea a ma kekahi mau wahi o ʻĀkia.
The fronds, but more specifically the pinnae are use to produce beautiful lei, either made up entirely of neke or having neke woven into a lei made up of numerous plants.
Wili ʻia nā oho o ka neke i lei.
Neke looks great when either kept in a pot and placed into a water feature or in a landscape as an accent plant around other features. Full sun and regular watering is ideal for this plant to look its best. You can also plant it in an area that for whatever reason stays wet like at the opening of a downspout. Few pests seem to bother this plant making it an even better candidate for your garden. Right now you can purchase this one of a kind fern at the Home Depot for only $6. That’s a great price for a fern that is hardly ever for up for sale.
Nani ke kanu ʻana i ka neke ma kahi o ka wai a i ʻole ma kahi o nā lāʻau ʻē aʻe. E aho e kanu i kahi e pā nui ai ka lā a e hāinu mau. ʻAʻole nui nā mū e pilikia ai ka neke.
Like many other native plants, neke has been here in Hawaiʻi for centuries but yet it has hardly been used, if it all in Hawai’i’s landscapes even though it looks great and can be applied to so many different areas. This just goes to show that more work needs to be done to figure out which native plants can be used in our gardens today to help perpetuate them as well as the cultural practices surrounding them and reduce the plants’ chances of becoming extinct.
ʻAʻole nui ke kanu ʻana i ka neke ma ka māla, eia kā, he palai nani ʻiʻo nō. E aho nō e kanu i ka māla i mālama mau ai i nā palai o kēia pae ʻāina.