Wahiawa means “place of noise.” Long ago the rumble of rough seas supposedly could be heard from this area, which sits on a high plateau between the Waianae and Koolau mountain ranges in Central Oahu.

The irony of Wahiawa Botanical Garden’s name is not lost on Naomi Hoffman, who knows the loudest sound there on any given day might be the patter of falling rain or branches rustling in the breeze.

“It’s peaceful, relaxing,” said Hoffman, botanist for Honolulu Botanical Gardens — five Oahu gardens, including Wahiawa, that are managed by the City and County of Honolulu. “People come here to read, stroll, have lunch, meditate and spend quality time with their kids. It’s an escape from the hubbub of daily life.”

Hoffman divides her time between Wahiawa and HBG’s other gardens: Ho‘omaluhia in Kaneohe, Koko Crater in Hawaii Kai, and Foster and Lili‘uokalani in downtown Honolulu. She describes Wahiawa Botanical Garden as “a 27-acre wonderland that you can visit every day and see something you never noticed before.”

In the early 1900s sugar cane was the islands’ major crop. The garden was founded in the 1930s as an experimental arboretum for the Hawaiian Sugar Planters’ Association.

“The HSPA wanted to reforest the watersheds to ensure there would be enough water to irrigate the fields,” Hoffman said. “The arboretum in Wahiawa was one of the places they planted trees from all over the world to see which ones would grow fast and thrive.”

Harold Lyon, a botanist who hailed from Minnesota, was in charge of the project. Most of the biggest trees in Wahiawa Botanical Garden — including ficus, kauris and eucalyptuses rising as high as 100 feet — were planted under his direction.

The city assumed management of the property in 1950 and opened Wahiawa Botanical Garden to the public there seven years later. Some 2,157 plants and trees representing 1,963 species flourish in its cool rainforest setting. There are ginger, jacaranda and jade; fragrant cinnamon, allspice and camphor; the familiar hibiscus, hala (pandanus) and hapuu fern; and a host of curiosities.

In the upper terrace, for example, look for epiphytes — plants that grow on other plants but do not draw food or water from them; instead, they gather moisture and nutrients from fallen debris and rainwater.

Don’t miss the giant orchid, which was brought to Wahiawa from Foster Botanical Garden in 1965. It gets its name not because its flowers are unusually big, but because the plant itself stands 7 feet tall, measures 12 feet in diameter and weighs 200 pounds — and it’s still growing.

When the shaving brush tree loses its leaves, photosynthesis occurs through its bark, which turns from brown to green. Scratch a message on a large, sturdy leaf of the autograph tree, and the writing will remain visible until the leaf falls.

The flowers of the Napoleon’s hat tree smell like cheesecake; latex from the chicle tree is used to make chewing gum; and the abundant rainwater that collects between the leaf bases of the traveler’s palm could hydrate hikers who didn’t pack enough water for their journey.

Compared with the manicured upper terrace, the greenery in the garden’s gulch section — a drop of nearly five stories at its deepest point — grows wild and unrestrained but is equally beautiful. Of note are about 300 native plants, flowers and trees, including 21 of the 27 species of loulu, Hawaii’s only native palm.

Keep an eye out for the ukiuki, whose purple fruits were used to make dye in ancient times, and the papala kepau, which yields a sticky resin that Hawaiians of old smeared on branches to catch birds valued for their vivid feathers. Displaying artistry unmatched in the Pacific, the Hawaiians painstakingly tied small feather bundles to a netting of olona (a native shrub) to create magnificent cloaks, capes, helmets and more.

“If you slow down, look, listen, touch and smell, you’ll find that Wahiawa Botanical Garden is an amazing classroom, and nature is an incredible teacher,” Hoffman said. “I learn something new every time I’m there.”

IF YOU GO …

Wahiawa Botanical Garden

>> Address: 1396 California Ave.

>> Hours: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily except Christmas and New Year’s Day

>> Admission: Free

>> Contact: 621-7321 or hbg@honolulu.gov

>> Website: 808ne.ws/ HBGwahiawa

>> Tours: Maps provided for self-guided tours; for one-hour guided group tours, call 628-1190 at least three weeks in advance.

>> Notes: To access the gulch, visitors must be able to walk up and down steep steps on their own. Jackets, umbrellas, hats and insect repellent recommended.

>> Contributions: Mail to 180 N. Vineyard Blvd., Honolulu 96817. Call 537-1708 or go to friendsof honolulubotanical gardens.com for information.

Coming up

Classes and special events are offered throughout the year. Go to 808ne.ws/ parksclasses. Admission to these events is free, but reservations are required. Call 522-7066.

>> Keiki nature exploration: Activities include crafts and nature walks; 10 to 11 a.m. second Monday every other month (next events are Jan. 11 and March 14).

>> Plant doctor: Bring potted plants, branches, fruits and leaf samples to study under a microscope; ask questions about any horticulture topics; 9 to 10 a.m. Feb. 19.

>> Ti leaf lei making: 1 to 2 p.m. fourth Wednesday of the month (next dates are Jan. 27, Feb. 24 and March 23)

Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi is a Honolulu-based freelance writer whose travel features for the Star-Advertiser have won several Society of American Travel Writers awards.