ʻĀwikiwiki
Canavalia hawaiiensis
A climbing vine with very pubescent, trifolate leaves (three leaflets comprising a single leaf) and striking purple flowers. The flowers are similar to those of pea-flowers like the ‘Ohai (Sesbania tomentosa), but are a bright purple and have a white spot at the base of the petal and keel. After the flowers are pollinated, large seed pods with 3-9 tan colored seeds, about an inch in diameter, develop on the inside.
He lāʻau hihi kēia me ka lau huluhulu pākolu. He mau pua poni a ʻulaʻula kohu ʻōhai (Sesbania tomentosa), akā he māhele keʻokeʻo kona i ka lihilihi a ma ka pale pōuleule. Hua mai nā wahī ʻanoʻano nui, ʻekolu a ʻeiwa ʻanoʻano i loko.
This endemic plant is found in the dry forest of Lana’i, Maui and Hawai’i. It can easily be seen when driving down the dirt road to South Point on the Big Island where it grows mostly as a beautiful ground cover in one of the harshest conditions known in Hawaiʻi.
He lāʻau kēia no ka wao maloʻo o Lānaʻi, Maui, me Hawaiʻi. ʻIke leʻa ʻia ma ke kalaiwa ʻana i ke ala lepo i Kalae, ma Kaʻū, Hawaiʻi. Ma laila e hāliʻi ai i ka honua.
The flowers and seeds of this spectacular vine are strung into extraordinary lei. The color of the flowers range from almost all white with splashes of purple to deep purple depending on which island you are on.
Kui ʻia nā ʻanoʻano a me nā pua o ka ʻāwikiwiki i lei. A ʻokoʻa hoʻi nā pua, he mau pua keʻokeʻo i kikokiko ʻia i ka poni, a he mau pua pōpolohua kekahi. Aia ke ʻano i ka mokupuni.
This is a hardy plant, it does well in full sun and can handle little watering once established in the ground. It does fine growing up a trellis, chain-link fence or another tree but also does well as a ground cover. This is a very beautiful vine that doesn’t “take over” the host plant it climbs unlike many of the introduced, invasive vines like ivy gourd, maunaloa, maile pilau, banana poka and other passion fruit vines.
He lāʻau ikaika kēia i ka lā, a ʻaʻole pono ka wai he nui. Nani nō i ka hihi ʻana i ka hale hihi, a i ka pā uea. A nani hoʻi kekahi ma ka hāliʻi ʻana i ka honua. ʻAʻole nō i noho hewa kēia kā hihi i nā lāʻau e ulu ana ma kahi ona e like me nā lāʻau haole ʻano like e laʻa ka ivy gourd, maunaloa, maile pilau, poka maiʻa a me ka lilikoʻi.
Many people are familiar with the plant called maunaloa (Canavalia cathartica), which is used to make maunaloa lei, what people don’t realize is that maunaloa is a non-native, highly invasive alien weed that is smothering our lowland forest plants. It can be seen taking over other plants from Waimanalo, O’ahu all the way down to Na’alehu on the Big Island and pretty much everywhere else in the state. ‘awikiwiki is the original flower for the “maunaloa” type lei and is not invasive like maunaloa, in fact it is not common anywhere. If you insist on using maunaloa it would be a good idea to gather all the flowers from the wild to prevent it from producing seeds and spreading further, don’t forget that you can even use maunaloa seeds for lei so collect those too!
Kamaʻāina nui nā kānaka i ka maunaloa (Canavalia cathartica) i kui ʻia i nā lei maunaloa, akā he lāʻau haole nō ia a uluhewa ka maunaloa i ka nahele. Ma muli o ka uluāhewa ʻana o ka maunaloa, pilikia nā lāʻau Hawaiʻi. ʻIke ʻia ka maunaloa ma Waimānalo, Oʻahu a hiki i Nāʻālehu, Kaʻū. ʻO ka ʻāwikiwiki ka lāʻau maoli, a ʻaʻole nō e uluāhewa. E aho e hulikua i ka maunaloa a mālama i ka ʻāwikiwiki. Ke ʻike ʻia ka maunaloa, e ʻohiʻohi i nā ʻanoʻano a pau i ʻole ai e laha aku.