NAME:

Hawaiian:     None

English:        Flowering maple

Latin:            Abutilon sandwicense

FAMILY:      Malvaceae

STATUS:    Endemic, Endangered

APPEARANCE:  This medium sized, 1.5 to 3 meter shrub grows from 300 to 600 meters in elevation in mostly dry forests.  Found at Makaleha Valley and Pu‘ukaua in the Wai‘anae mountain range.

Flower: Solitary in the leaf axils. Color is pale green-yellow. Flower hangs somewhat upright to sideways then turns down.  The flower is similar to a tulip poplar.  It has elongated green to yellow petals and a stamen that falls below the petals when the blossom hangs down.  The stamen is also yellow.

Leaves: Pale green thin cordate. Ovate, but more heart shaped in appearance.

CULTURAL/HISTORICAL USE

Again another Abutilon which is critically endangered.  Not much historically found about this plant. There is one picture of King Kamehameha II or Liholiho with this flower over his ear.