On the upper section of the trail watch for the native birds `elepaio and `apapane. The `elepaio is gray brown on top and has a white breast splotched with gray and black. Its dark tail is usually cocked. The `apapane has a red breast and head, black wings and tail, and a slightly curved black bill. In flight the `apapane makes a whirring sound as it darts from tree to tree searching for insects and nectar.
Also along the trail are well over 50 different species of native rain forest and dry-land plants. Some are identified by small signs; a few of the white numbered markers keyed to the Awa`awapuhi Botanical Trail Guide are still along the trail, but the pamphlet is out of print. The notes below describe a few of the more easily identified native plants.`Ohi`a trees predominate in the wet upper section of the trail. They have oval leaves and clusters of delicate red flowers. Native birds, such as the `apapane, feed on the nectar and help in pollination. Early Hawaiians used the flowers in lei and the wood in outrigger canoes. The hard, durable wood was also carved into god images for heiau (religious sites).In the drier middle section of the trail, koa gradually replaces `ohi`a as the dominant tree. Koa has sickle-shaped foliage and pale yellow flower clusters. Early Hawaiians made surfboards and outrigger canoe hulls out of the beautiful red brown wood. Today it is made into fine furniture.
To build a canoe, the master canoe maker (kahuna kalai wa`a) first selected a tall, straight koa tree, preferably near water. After felling the tree, he waited for Lea, the goddess of canoe builders, to appear in the form of an `elepaio. If the bird walked along the entire trunk without stopping, the wood was sound and could be used for the canoe. If, however, the `elepaio stopped and pecked at the bark, the master knew that the tree was riddled with insects and must be discarded.Farther down the ridge the native dry-land shrubs pukiawe and `a`ali`i make their appearance. Pukiawe has tiny, rigid leaves and small white, pink, or red berries. `A`ali`i has narrow, shiny leaves and red seed capsules that early Hawaiians used in lei making and for kapa (bark cloth) dye.
At the next to last switchback, look for `iliahi, the native sandalwood tree. Its small leaves are dull green and appear wilted. `Iliahi is partially parasitic, having outgrowths on its roots that steal nutrients from nearby plants. Early Hawaiians ground the fragrant heartwood into a powder to perfume their kapa. Beginning in the late 1700s, sandalwood was indiscriminately cut down and exported to China to make incense and furniture. The trade ended around 1840 when the forests were depleted of `iliahi.
Just after the patch of lantana shrub, watch for a lone native hala pepe tree. It has a thin trunk topped with a thatch of long, slender leaves. Early Hawaiians used the showy, yellow flowers in lei and placed a cluster of flowers on the altar in the hula halau (long house) to honor Laka, goddess of the hula.
