Pipturus albidus

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Māmaki
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Urticaceae
Genus: Pipturus
Species: P. albidus
Binomial name
Pipturus albidus
(Hook. & Arn.) A.Gray ex H.Mann

Pipturus albidus, known as Māmaki (sometimes Waimea, for its resemblance to olomea[1]) in Hawaiian, is a species of flowering plant in the nettle family, Urticaceae, that is endemic to Hawaiʻi. It inhabits coastal mesic, mixed mesic, and wet forests at elevations of 60–1,830 m (200–6,000 ft). Māmaki is a small tree that reaches a height of 9 m (30 ft) and a trunk diameter of 0.3 m (0.98 ft).[2]

Uses

Medicinal

Native Hawaiians made a treatment for illnesses known as ʻea and pāʻaoʻao from the fruit.[3] They also combined fresh māmaki leaves with hot stones and spring water to produce a tisane that was an effective treatment for general debility. Today, packages of dried māmaki leaves are commercially produced.[4]

Non-medicinal

The bast fibres were used by Native Hawaiians to make kapa (bark cloth) and kaula (rope).[3]

Ecology

P. albidus is the preferred host plant for the caterpillars of the Kamehameha butterfly (Vanessa tameamea).[2] Māmaki sometimes host the caterpillars of the Green Hawaiian Blue (Udara blackburni).[5]

References

  1. ↑ "Hawaiian-English Dictionary". University of Hawaii Press. 2003. Retrieved 2011-10-12. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Little Jr., Elbert L.; Roger G. Skolmen (1989). "Mamaki" (PDF). Common Forest Trees of Hawaii (Native and Introduced). United States Forest Service. Retrieved 2009-11-29. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "mamaki, mamake, waimea (P. albidus on Kauai & P. ruber)". Hawaiian Ethnobotany Database. Bernice P. Bishop Museum. Retrieved 2009-11-16. 
  4. ↑ Krauss, Beatrice H.; Martha Noyes (2001). Plants in Hawaiian Medicine. Bess Press. pp. 85–88. ISBN 978-1-57306-128-5. 
  5. ↑ Scott, James A. (1992). The Butterflies of North America: A Natural History and Field Guide. Stanford University Press. p. 399. ISBN 978-0-8047-2013-7. 

External links

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