Plant Database

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Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial
Habit: Shrub , Tree
Leaf Arrangement: Opposite
Leaf Complexity: Simple
Leaf Margin: Entire
Breeding System: Flowers Unisexual
Inflorescence: Axillary , Spike , Terminal
Fruit Type: Drupe
Leaf: "Leaves pale to dark green on upper surface, lower surface lighter, chartaceous, ovate-elliptic to narrowly elliptic, (2-)4-8(-18) cm long, (1-)2-3.5(-7.8) cm wide, upper surface glabrous, lower surface pubescent at least along the midrib or glabrous, apex acute to acuminate, base acute, rounded to subcordate or tapering, petioles thin, 4-10 mm long, pubescent or sometimes glabrous." (bibref:1798). "Leaves dark green glabrous, or slightly pubescent underneath, especially along the midrib and veins, chartaeeous and faintly nerved, ovate or ovate oblong to lanceolate, 5-10 cm long, 2.5-4 cm wide, on petioles of 6-8 mm which are often pubescent, acute at both ends or often rounded at the base." (bibref: 1809).
Flower: "Flowers unisexual, yellow or greenish yellow, puberulent, peduncles 2-10(-30) mm long, more or less puberulent, often curved, rachis clavate to conical, gradually prolonged, 2-20(-30) mm long, hirsute, sometimes forked, pedicels minute, minute bracts rarely observed; calyx tube of staminate flowers 4-5(-7.5) mm long, outer lobes 1.4-4 mm long, 1-3.2 mm wide, inner lobes 1-3 mm long, 1-3 mm wide; calyx tube of pistillate flowers 3-4(-6) mm long, outer lobes 1.4-3 mm long, 0.9-2.1 mm wide, inner lobes 0.9-2 mm long, 0.8-2.1 mm wide." (bibref:1798). Mature inflorescence a spike "4-30 mm long on peduncles of 2-6 mm, suberect or drooping, usually terminal, densely flowered near the apex, the rachys thick squarrose and tomentose, sometimes dichotomously forking; perianth on a short pedicel of 1 mm, silky tomentose 5-6 mm long, the lobes somewhat obtuse." (bibref: 1809).
Fruit: "Fruit crimson to dark lilac red, ellipsoid, 8-16 mm long, 5-8 mm in diameter." (bibref:1798). "Scales 4 linear, free, as long as the ovary, drupe ovoid 8-10 mm, usually only two maturing at the apex of the spike. Fruits prolifically during the winter months." (bibref: 1809).

Bloom Information

Bloom Color: Yellow , Green
Bloom Time: Jan , Feb , Mar , Apr , May , Jun , Jul , Aug , Sep , Oct , Nov , Dec

Distribution

USA: HI
Native Distribution: Endemic to the Hawaiian island of Hawaii.
Native Habitat: "Rather common in dry to wet forest, 0-1,500 m, on Hawai'i, but not known from the Kohala Mountains." (bibref: 1798). This taxon grows in "dry to wet forest 0–1500 m". (webref: 47).

Growing Conditions

Water Use: Low , Medium
Light Requirement: Part Shade , Shade
Soil Moisture: Dry , Moist , Wet

Bibliography

Bibref 1809 - Indigenous Trees of the Hawaiian Islands (1913) Rock, Joseph F.
Bibref 1798 - Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawaii, Revised Edition (1999) Wagner, W.L.; Herbst, D.R.; Sohmer, S.H.

Search More Titles in Bibliography

Web Reference

Webref 49 - Flora of the Hawaiian Islands (2020) Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
Webref 47 - Hawaiian Ethnobotany Online Database (2020) Bishop Museum
Webref 31 - Native Plants Hawai’i (2018) University of Hawaii
Webref 28 - NatureServe Explorer: An online encyclopedia of life (2018) NatureServe

Additional resources

USDA: Find Wikstroemia sandwicensis in USDA Plants
FNA: Find Wikstroemia sandwicensis in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Wikstroemia sandwicensis