Lama

Lama is known as the Hawaiian Persimmon

The lama tree is an endemic plant that is found only in Hawai‘i. The lama is found on all of the islands except for Kaho'olawe. Lama trees grow to be about twenty to forty feet high. It can grow in either wet or dry lower elevations. In thick strands of trees the trunks grow straight and reach a foot in diameter. It was used by ancient Hawaiians for things like food, the trunk was for fishnets, and it was also mixed with other plants including kukui and ‘ulu and applied on sores and used for medication. In the olden days, lama was used in the building of some temples that were considered to be sacred. A very interesting fact about the lama tree is that the leaves of the great lama protect plants that are not as strong.

Bibliography:

Nā Mea Kanu o Kamehameha. Kamehameha Middle School Koa Team Students. 15 Febuary 2006<http://kms.kapalama.ksbe.edu/projects/2003/plants/ulu/index.html>.

Life in Early Hawai´i The Ahupua´a. Honolulu: Kamehameha School Press, 1994.

"Diospyros Sandwicensis." Hawaiian Native Plant Propagation Database. 26 Aug. 2001. 8 Feb. 2007 <http://www2.hawaii.edu/~eherring/hawnprop/dio-sand.htm>.

Sighted from Na Mea Kanu O Kamehameha on Lama.