Lacy native Hawaiian plant needs to be grown with care

I was reminded about a fabulous yet undergrown native Hawaiian plant on our New Year’s Day hike with my epic neighbors and their akamai son, Scotty.

Ulei, part of the rose family Rosaceae, has clusters of white, fragrant flowers. It has delicate leaves, in a pinnate (featherlike) arrangement. Scotty said he loves plants with delicate leaves like that. Most natives and tropicals have large leaves, so the delicate lacy green leaves of ulei make a nice landscape contrast.

Ulei looks like it would be easy to propagate from seeds or cuttings, but you get a very low success rate from either method. The seeds take a while to germinate, and only 10 to 20 percent sprout and grow, and it may take several months. You need a mist box and strong rooting hormones to grow ulei from cuttings, though even with these many will not root and survive long term.

Once in the ground they like to spread their roots, fairly near the surface, and not be disturbed by cultivation, weed eaters or herbicides. This is typical of many rarely cultivated native plants like naupaka kuahiwi, naio and aalii.

In the wild, ulei is a tough and persistent plant that grows in harsh sites like dryland forest habitats, even some that are mostly filled with weedy alien plants, and dry, hot, windy desolate landscapes. You often see them atop eroded rocky ridges when you go hiking in Hawaii.

Ulei is not a plant that you see in commercial or public landscape all that much. Why is this?

Some native plants don’t mind the overuse of weed eaters and leaf blowers, herbicides and overuse of cheap, high-nitrogen fertilizer. Ulei is not one of these plants. To grow it, you need a more careful type of gardening.

In 1981 we visited a school’s ulei hedge with Hawaiian-plant expert Brian Choy right after Hurricane Iwa. He told me to collect some of the abundant fat white fruit. I told him the chances of them growing were slim, but since I respect my akamai elders, I did as Choy said and collected the ripe fruit.

I went home and soaked the fruit in warm water. I lomi’d (massaged) the fruit and separated the seeds from the fruit pulp. I soaked the seeds overnight in warm water. Then I planted the seeds. Since they are about a quarter-inch wide, that’s how deep I covered them with the potting soil mix. I planted six seeds each in a 6-inch pot and watered them every morning.

Most all of the seeds sprouted! My theory is the plants were so shaken up and shocked by the wild wind and rain of the hurricane that they went into survival mode and produced lots of fruit with viable seeds.

Another epic ulei grows in the yard of my neighbor JoAnne, whom I met 14 years ago when my my husband, Clark, and I were admiring her bonsai-shaped ulei. Her yard has changed over the years, but her lovely waterfall-shaped ulei persists.

So, if you want to try growing a new Hawaiian plant for the New Year, try some ulei. Buy it from a local garden shop, nursery or benefit plant sale. Be an akamai plant consumer and ask for it by name — the scientific name is Osteomeles anthyllidifolia — but ulei works, too.

Clear lawn grass away and plant the root ball at the same level of soil as it grew in the pot. Water it to establish the plant, and then mainly leave this pretty native Hawaiian alone. Just hand-weed and water if the weather gets really dry. You can use stone or pebble mulch for a decorative and water-saving top dressing.

Heidi Bornhorst is a sustainable landscape consultant specializing in native, xeric and edible gardens. Reach her at heidibornhorst@gmail.com.