Kukui
Aleurites mollucana
Large trees up to 60 feet tall easily distinguished from far distances by its light green foliage. Also recognizable are its distinct leaf shapes, beautiful flower clusters and familiar fruit. Honestly, if you don’t easily recognize kukui by now, you need to get out more.
He mau kumulāʻau nui; kanaono kapuaʻi ke kiʻekiʻe. ʻIke ʻia mai kahi mamao ma muli o nā lau ʻāhinahina. He mau lau kohu nuku puaʻa a he mau hua i kaulana i kēia pae ʻāina.
This is a Polynesian introduced tree now naturalized and becoming increasingly invasive on all of the main islands in the mesic forests from sea level to about 2000 ft. in elevation.
Ulu ʻāhiu ke kukui, a ma kekahi mau wahi, uluāhewa ke kukui ma ka wao maʻukele.
One of the most used plants in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi culture, nearly every part of the kukui had a use. Primarily the seeds were strung on a palm midrib and burned to make candles hence the name candlenut tree. In addition the juice from the husk of the fruit was used to make a black dye while the bark around the roots made a similar dye for canoes. Tree resins and sap were used medicinally and for glue while the nuts were roasted and made into a delicious relish called ‘inamona. The seeds, leaves and flowers can also be made in to lei.
Hoʻohana nui ʻia ke kukui ma ka nohona Hawaiʻi. Kui ʻia nā ʻanoʻano kukui i ka nīʻau no ka ihoiho kukui a me ka lamakū. He waihoʻoluʻu ʻeleʻele nō hoʻi ko ka hua kukui, a he waihoʻoluʻu ʻula ko ka ʻili o ke kukui. He pīlali ko ke kukui e kohu tuko. Moʻa ka ʻiʻo o ke kukui i ʻinamona. Kui ʻia nā hua kukui i lei, a wili ʻia nā lau kukui i lei.
Kukui can get big so make sure you allow for lots of room around this tree. It is extremely easy to grow having few pests if any and needing hardly any water once established in the ground. Just make sure to pick up as many of the fallen seeds as possible or else they’ll germinate all over your garden.
E nui aʻe ana ke kukui, a maʻalahi ka mālama ʻana. ʻAʻole nō nui nā mū e pilikia ai ke kukui, a ʻaʻole pono ka wai he nui. Ke waiho ʻia nā hua kukui ma ka honua, e kupu ana nō nā pulapula.
Because we have become so technologically advanced here in Hawai’i we no longer use kukui as much as we used to so now it is becoming more and more dominant in our mesic forests often shading and crowding out a lot of other native plants that would have otherwise thrived there. We need to get back to our roots and continue to use kukui as we did in the past primarily so that it won’t out compete its native neighbors but also to continue to preserve our cultural history.
Ma muli o ke holomua ʻana o ke au, ʻaʻole nō hoʻohana nui ʻia ke kukui e like me ka wā kahiko. ʻAno pilikia naʻe ka wao maʻukele i ka uluāhewa o ke kukui.