Kahanu Garden Hana Maui Hawaii

A beautiful canoe hale . . The garden was established in 1972 on Maui's northern coast, with rugged black lava seascapes, and is surrounded by one of... more

by Sharon Mau

Title

Kahanu Garden Hana Maui Hawaii

Artist

Sharon Mau

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

A beautiful canoe hale . . The garden was established in 1972 on Maui's northern coast, with rugged black lava seascapes, and is surrounded by one of Hawaiʻi's last undisturbed hala (Pandanus tectorius) forests.

The garden's ethnobotanical collections focus on plants traditionally used by Pacific Island people. It includes the world's largest breadfruit collection, first established in the 1970s. Today the garden contains 220 accessions of approximately 120 varieties of breadfruit collected from field expeditions to over 17 Pacific island groups in Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia, as well as Indonesia, the Philippines, and the Seychelles. This collection is used for research and conservation by NTBG's Breadfruit Institute.

Other garden holdings include bamboo, banana, calabash, coconut, kava, kamani (Calophyllum inophyllum), loʻulu (Pritchardia arecina), sugarcane, taro, turmeric, vanilla, and bitter yam (Dioscorea bulbifera)

Kahanu Garden also contains the 3-acre (12,000 m2) Piʻilanihale Heiau, a National Historic Landmark believed to be the largest ancient temple in the Hawaiian Islands. It is built from basalt blocks and extends 341 feet (104 m) by 415 feet (126 m), with a high front wall rising 50 feet (15 m). The large central terrace with two separate platforms is situated on a broad ridge that adds to its majesty. The side facing the sea rises steeply in five stepped terraces, and the upper rectangular surface of the main platform contains several smaller walled enclosures and pits, all bounded on the rear by a well-built stone wall up to 8 feet (2.4 m) high.

Construction of the main terrace dates back to the 14th century. Wings were later added and rededicated during the 16th century, possibly after high chief Piʻilani from western Maui conquered the fertile, well-watered, and heavily populated Hāna region, thereby unifying the whole island. - wikipedia

Plant collections from the Pacific Islands are the focus here, particularly plants of value to the Hawaiian people as well as to other cultures of Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia. At Kahanu one learns the cultural relationships between the people and these remarkable plants that were transported around the Pacific on ancient voyaging canoes. Among the different ethno-botanical collections that are housed here is the world's largest collection of breadfruit - Ulu cultivars, which serves as a germplasm repository for this important South Pacific food crop.

Situated in the storied land of Honomā`ele, Kahanu Garden is the home to Pi`ilanihale, a massive lava-rock structure that is believed to be the largest ancient place of worship (heiau) in Polynesia. This awe-inspiring cultural site is registered as a National Historic Landmark.

This distinctively attractive food-bearing tree produces abundantly from late summer into winter. The `ulu (fruit) grows on a smooth gray-barked tree that may attain heights of 40 to 60 feet. The breadfruit tree is easily recognized by its bright dark-green leathery palmate or ruffled leaves, which are deeply lobed and can be up to three feet long. The branches reach out to a span of 30 to 60 feet. The trees are usually found at elevations lower than 1000 feet. Coming upon a grove of these large trees usually signifies an area of ancient settlement and cultivation in this mother nation Hawai`i. `Ulu was one of the plants considered important enough to the life of the culture for earliest Polynesian settlers to have brought it in their canoes, traveling to Hawai`i Nei from Oceania. It is widespread throughout Asia and the South Pacific.


It is a very special extraordinary and sacred place . . Aloha . .

Kahanu Garden Hāna Maui Hawaii
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March 25th, 2015