DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS

• usually small upright tree; sometimes vine-like and leaning or reclining on larger trees or on tree ferns
• stems at tips of branches with four, flattened sides, rather than round
• leaves opposite each other on stems; thick and leathery in older plants
• leaves usually upright when first emerge from bud

TRADITIONAL HAWAIIAN USES

• used in canoe construction as trim or rigging

HAWAIIAN RAIN FOREST ECOLOGY

• fast growing shrub or short tree growing into the tree fern layer of the forest
• becoming noticeably much more abundant in Ni`aulani Rain Forest since kahili ginger has been controlled
• seedlings and sapling found in forest, especially in clusters near the few older, fruiting trees, where tree ferns are less dense

HOW TO SAY “MANONO” IN HAWAIIAN