Polyscias (Reynoldsia) sandwicensis

Description:

[syn. Reynoldsia sandwicensis]Ohe makai or Hawaiian reynoldsiaAraliaceae (Aralia or Ginseng family)Endemic to the Hawaiian Islands (Niihau, Oahu, Molokai, Lnai, Maui, and Hawaii Island; apparently not found naturally on Kauai)IUCN: Near Threatened (Rare)Oahu (Cultivated)Habitwww.flickr.com/photos/dweickhoff/5188494870/in/photolist-...Ohe makai is one of the few native Hawaiian trees that are deciduous, dropping all their leaves during the summer month dormancy, or at other dry times of the year.Early Hawaiian boys and girls, as well as men, enjoyed walking on wooden stilts called kukuluaeo, or simply aeo, named after the long-legged Hawaiian black-necked stilt (Himantopus mexicanus knudsenii). The wood they choose for this game was ohe makai. www.flickr.com/photos/dweickhoff/6036365935/The fruits were used medicinally for babies. The mother would eat the fruits feed her baby through breast milk to cure paoao (childhood disease, with physical weaknesses) and ea (thrush) with no side effects.EtymologyThe new generic name Polyscias is from the Greek word "many-shades" in reference to the foliage.The species name sandwicensis refers to the "Sandwich Islands," as the Hawaiian Islands were once called, and named by James Cook on one of his voyages in the 1770's. James Cook named the islands after John Montagu (The fourth Earl of Sandwich) for supporting Cook's voyages.nativeplants.hawaii.edu/plant/view/Polyscias_sandwicensis