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Hawaiian name:Papala kepau
Botanical name:Pisonia brunoniana
Common name: ... IDENTITY:
An endemic Hawaiian tree that grows mainly on the Big Island of Hawai'i. In
ancient times the Hawaiians used its fruits to produce bird lime; a sticky
substance they spread on tree limbs to catch birds in order to pluck their
feathers and create expensive feather capes that were reserved for the Ali'i
(the royalty). The flowers, as with many other Hawaiian endemics, although
small and inconspicuous, have an exquisitely sweet fragrance. Growing in
clusters, each flower is only 1/4 inch in diameter and has five greenish-white
petals that open from a corolla tube.
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