PAINIU, Astelia degeneri Skottsb. This plant is reported by Degener to be growing within the crater.[19]
MAU’U-LA’ILI, Sisyrinchium acre H. Mann. A native member of the Iris Family with grass-like leaves that grows on old lava flows between altitudes of 3,500 and 7,500 feet on Maui and Hawaii. It is an attractive plant that rarely exceeds 12 inches high. In July and August it bears yellow flowers ¾ inch across that last only a few hours. In the crater it may be found in Koolau and Kaupo Gaps. The leaves, bound tightly around the wrists and ankles, stain the skin a blue color that lasts several days. This stain was regarded as proof that a person had been to the crater. A number of other species of the genus are mainland wildflowers commonly called blue-eyed grass.
ORCHIDS. [Fig. 2]. The Orchid Family of over 15,000 species is second only to the Composite Family in size, yet only three species of three genera are native in Hawaii, a land connected in thought with an exuberance of gay orchids. Moreover, the three endemic species are characterized by small size, relative rarity, and inconspicuous flowers. Twayblade, Liparis hawaiiensis H. Mann, grows in open woods on the ground and on moss-covered trees on the flanks of the volcano and at Paliku. The rarest of the three natives, Habenaria holochila Hillebr., has been found growing 1-2½ feet high in deep moss in fog-swept Koolau Gap. It bears its dull-greenish, inconspicuous orchids on a tall, many-flowered spike.
’ALA ’ALAWAINUI, Peperomia sp. A small herb with succulent leaves found at Paliku. It is a member of the Pepper Family, Piperaceae, to which AWA, Piper methysticum, belongs. There are many Peperomias native to Hawaiian forests. Some have leaves with gay red undersides.
SANDALWOOD, ’ILIAHI, Santalum haleakalae Hillebr. [Fig. 3]. A small but striking tree found above the park entrance, in Koolau Gap, and along the Kaupo Trail below Paliku. It has leathery, dark green leaves so that it stands out in the vegetation and is readily distinguished from afar. In mid-summer, corymbs of four-pointed, deep-red or vermillion flowers appear on the ends of branches. The dry heartwood has the fragrance which is associated with the name sandalwood. Degener tells the detailed story of sandalwood trade that flourished in the islands for fifty years beginning in 1790.[20]
SHEEP SORREL, Rumex acetosella L., an abundant, well-known, introduced weed found both inside the crater and out. A native species called PAWALE, Rumex gigantius Ait., is more interesting. It grows as a stocky undershrub on barren lava flows and in rock crevices inside the crater. In Koolau Gap, it becomes a sprawling vine. It is said that a mixture of an extraction from the boiled bark and AWA was used by Hawaiians for skin diseases. This was tried in vain as a cure for leprosy when the disease first appeared in the islands in 1840.
HAWAIIAN BUTTERCUP, MAKOU, Ranunculus hawaiiensis A. Gray. Like the native violets and geraniums, members of this genus, well-known on the mainland, either become bushy or spread as a woody vine in Hawaii. Two native species occur on Haleakala, but the yellow-flowered, sprawling R. mauiensis A. Gray is reported only outside the park. The larger flowered, erect Hawaiian buttercup, however, was reported by J. F. Rock to be abundant formerly in Puu Nianiau Crater. It is a coarse, hollow-stemmed, hairy herb with compound leaves divided into three sharply-toothed, irregular leaflets. Within Haleakala Crater it grows on moist, grassy slopes in Koolau Gap.
HO’AWA, Pittosporum confertiflorum A. Gray. A small tree, sometimes becoming 25 feet tall. The large leaves, shiny green on top, brown hairy underneath, are crowded like whorls on the ends of the branches. In the centers of these, dense clusters of fleshy, cream-colored flowers appear in late summer. Wrinkled fruits, resembling English walnuts, hang on the trees throughout the year. Very few trees grow in the crater, but they are more numerous above 4,000 feet along the Kaupo Trail and at Ulupalakua. The genus of some 200 species is widespread; it has many species native to Hawaii. Some kinds are well-known garden plants. Pittosporum tobira (Thunb.) Ait., a native of China and Japan, is a favorite shrub in California.
HAWAIIAN HAWTHORN, ’ULEI, Osteomeles anthyllidifolia Smith (Lindl). A spreading shrub with compound leaves and fragrant, small, white flowers, like apple blossoms, that may appear throughout the year. The fruit is white and contains five stony seeds. Plants growing on ash flats are very small. The strong but pliable wood of ulei was used for digging sticks, fish spears, and hoops to keep the mouths of fishing nets open.
HAWAIIAN RASPBERRY, ’AKALA, Rubus hawaiiensis A. Gray. [Fig. 5.] A shrub with attractive pink flowers abundant at Paliku. It is found also in Koolau Gap at the foot of Leleiwi Pali and elsewhere. The fruit, agreeable but somewhat bitter, is remarkable for its large size. It ripens about the Fourth of July or later. A trailing native, R. macraei A. Gray, sprawls in foggy Koolau Gap. Its large, dark fruits are bitter.