‘Iliahi
Ka wai ‘ula ‘iliahi o Waimea.
The red sandalwood water of Waimea.
This expression is sometimes used in old chants of Waimea, Kaua’i. After a storm Waimea Stream is said to turn red. Where it meets Makaweli Stream to form Waimea River, the water is sometimes red on one side and clear on the other. The red side is called wai ‘ula ‘iliahi.
-‘Olelo No’eau: Hawaiian Proverbs & Poetical Sayings,
by Mary Kawena Pukui (1983)
‘Iliahi (Santalum spp.), the native Hawaiian sandalwoods, are a beautiful and culturally significant component of native dry, mesic, and rain forests on nearly all of the main Hawaiian islands. These shrubs and trees generally have small greenish flowers that turn yellowish-brown, orange or salmon and are often fragrant.
‘Iliahi suffered a severe decline between 1790 and 1820 or so, when extensive commercial harvesting took its toll on the trees as well as on Native Hawaiian society. Maka’ainana were forced to harvest large quantities of trees to satisfy the ali’i and foreign traders. The fragrant heartwood was exchanged for a variety of objects enjoyed by the ruling class. The wood was then shipped to China and used to make incense and in decorative woodworking. Kalo cultivation and fishing – the job of men at the time – were neglected, and famine among the common people occurred.1 ‘Iliahi is no longer abundant enough for large-scale commercial harvesting. But as recently as the late 1980s, truckloads were harvested from a private ranch in Kona on the Big Island before the land was sold to foreign developers.
Traditionally, ‘iliahi was gathered for a variety of useful purposes. The bark and dried leaves were used to cure dandruff and head lice. When mixed with other herbs, ‘iliahi was used to treat sexually transmitted diseases.2 The heartwood was fashioned into a stringed musical instrument, the ‘ukeke, the only traditional stringed instrument in Hawai’i. ‘Iliahi was also mixed with coconut oil, heated with hot stones, and added to dyes to scent kapa (bark cloth).
Although sandalwood is native to other parts of the world, four Hawaiian species are endemic to the islands. The coast sandalwood, S. ellipticum, is a sprawling shrub or small tree scattered on rocky sites in dry shrublands and forests. This ‘iliahi occurs on all the main islands except Kaho’olawe, where it is extinct. It is also considered extinct on Laysan. Three varieties of S. freycinetianum, a small shrub or tree, occur in dry, mesic, and wet forests on Kaua’i, O’ahu, Moloka’i, Lana’i, and Maui. It was S. freycinetianum that was most highly sought during the sandalwood era. Naturalist Joseph Rock notes that in young trees, only the roots are fragrant.3 S. haleakalae is a small tree found only in the alpine zone of Haleakala. S. paniculatum occurs in dry woodlands on lava flows and cinder cones, and in wet forests on Hawai’i.
Despite extensive harvesting of S. freycinetianum in the past, only one of the three varieties is currently in danger of going extinct: S. freycinetianum var. lanaiense. This variety was listed as an endangered species in 1986 and is known from more than 275 trees scattered on Lana’i and Maui. A scattered population of no more than 20 trees occurs in the dry forest of Kanepu’u on the west end of Lana’i. A survey in 1991 found 55 plants in 13 widely scattered populations on Lana’ihale. On Maui, approximately 20 trees occur singly on rocky outcrops where goats cannot reach them on the southern slope of Haleakala, and few hundred remain on leeward West Maui.
A recovery plan for the endangered ‘iliahi and other listed plants on Lana’i was prepared in 1995. Introduced mammals, including goats, axis deer, and mouflon, threaten the continued existence of the endangered ‘iliahi by trampling on the plant’s shallow root system, destroying habitat, and destroying host plants on which the ‘iliahi depend. ‘Iliahi are hemiparasitic on the roots of other plants. They are able to manufacture their own food and other substances by photosynthesis, but must obtain water and minerals at least partly from other plants through roots. Apparently, ‘iliahi are not host-specific.
Introduced rats have all but eliminated reproduction of the endangered ‘iliahi in the wild by eating the fruits before they reach the ground. Rats also eat the fruits and seeds of the endangered na’u (gardenia), loulu palms, and many other plants, and they strip the bark of native plants including koa, hoawa, hau kuahiwi, a’e, pilo, olopua, and ‘ie’ie. Rats also prey on seabirds, forest birds, hatchlings, eggs, and tree snails. Large-scale rat control must be initiated if the endangered ‘iliahi and other Hawaiian species are to survive. Weeds, fire, spike disease, and a fungus affecting seeds in cultivation, also threaten the ‘iliahi.
All is not well for the endangered ‘iliahi in the regulatory arena either. In January 2003, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designated critical habitat for three endangered plants on Lana’i. (The Lana’i designation is part of an ongoing, court-ordered process for 255 threatened and endangered Hawaiian plant species resulting from a lawsuit filed in 1997 against the service by Earthjustice on behalf of the Conservation Council for Hawai’i, Sierra Club, and Hawaiian Botanical Society.) Unfortunately, the endangered ‘iliahi was not included among the plants for which critical habitat was designated because it was listed as endangered prior to the period covered by the lawsuit. Instead of including the endangered ‘iliahi in the designation process anyway, the service chose not to.
Proposed critical habitat for the other endangered plant species on Lana’i – which overlaps habitat for the endangered ‘iliahi – was significantly reduced by the service. After landowner Castle & Cooke Resorts threatened to renege on an earlier commitment to fence the Lana’ihale forest and watershed to protect the area from axis deer and mouflon, the service ended up designating 789 acres of critical habitat for three endangered plant species on Lana’i out of the 19,504 acres earlier proposed for 32 endangered plants species. Nearly all of the excluded critical habitat supports endangered ‘iliahi and other imperiled species.
A recent written agreement between Castle & Cooke Resorts and the service outlines a number of recovery actions to be taken by the landowner, presumably, in lieu of the service designating critical habitat. These actions include:
* constructing fences around large portions of Lana’ihale and east Lana’i to protect endangered plants from axis deer and sheep
* controlling populations of ungulates with hunting programs carried out by the public and Castle & Cooke Resort staff;
* reducing fire threats by controlling alien grasses;
* propagating and planting native species in the fenced areas; and
* funding ongoing plant conservation programs on the island.
It remains to be seen whether Castle & Cooke Resorts and the service implement these promised actions, which will protect rare and endangered species, watershed, and the sole-source aquifer. An appropriation bill to pay for a fence around the Lana’ihale forest and watershed is pending in the state Legislature.
In the meantime, the onslaught of introduced species continues. The exploding axis deer population on Lana’ihale has been compared to “fleas on an untreated dog’s back.” Ginger and other invasive weeds are taking over the summit forest and gulches. Rats are everywhere, and no large-scale effort to control these predators is foreseen in the near future. Maui populations of the endangered ‘iliahi are not much better off.
1. La’au Hawai’i: Traditional Hawaiian Uses of Plants, by Isabella Aiona Abbott (1992)
2. Kaaiakamanu and Akina (1922) in Ethnobotanical Uses of Endangered Hawaiian Plant Species, by Benton Kealii Pang (1994)
3. The Indigenous Trees of the Hawaiian Islands, by J. F. Rock (1913, 1974)
— Marjorie Ziegler
Volume 13, Number 9 March 2003
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