ALAHEʻE

Aloha! I’m Alahe’e, a small hardwood tree in the coffee family. I’m looking for a warm, sunny place to live and someone patient to take care of me. I grow pretty slowly at first, but I promise I’m worth the wait! After a year I’ll start growing 1-2 ft a year and I’ll get really fragrant flowers once I reach 3 or 4 ft tall.

Appearance: 

I have dark green leaves, small dark green or purple fruit, and sometimes clusters of little white flowers. My flowers appear pretty sporadically, but often during winter, oh, and I grow to about 10-30 ft tall and 3-10 ft wide.

Location: 

• I can grow in a some different types of habitats; dry shrublands, dry forests, and wet forests (I’m super flexible about water, but I do best if I’m not watered more than once a week)

• I live at elevations of around 30-3,800 ft

• I’m looking for a new place rn, somewhere in full sun to part shade with moist but well drained soil

Favorite thing: 

Summer sunnnn  -  I can deal with some frost in the winter, but summertime with all the heat and sunlight are when I really thrive.

Originally from:

I’m native to Hawaii, you can find me on Hawaii, Oahu, Maui, Lanai’i, Molokai, and Kauai

Occupation:

• Traditionally, Hawaiians use my wood to make spears, fish hooks, and other tools, and my flowers are incorporated in leis. My leaves also make dark brown/black dye and I can even be used medicinally to cleanse blood.

• Nowadays I can be a replacement for the non-native mock orange tree.