Hinahina

HINAHINA

All Main Image Stalk Color Internode Bud Leaf Flesh Growth

Main Image

'HINAHINA'

Status: No Known Specimens

Background Information: The name hinahina is popular among botanical features in Hawai‘i. It is applied to the silversword (Argyroxiphium sandwicense), Florida moss (Tillandsia usneoides), a native heliotrope (Heliotropium anomalum), native geraniums (Geranium cuneatum and others), native artemisia (Artemisia austalis and others), the Hawaiian fiddle-leaf (Nama sandwicense), and the beach vitex (Vitex rotunda). The name itself means "gray; grey or white haired," and all these plants share a common feature of appearing gray or silver. Many of them have small white hairs that reflect light, giving the plant a grayish gleam in the sun. There is a cane held in collections today as 'Hinahina' (see ‘Not Hinahina'), but this cane does not match the historical descriptions.

Historical Description: This cane is well documented historically as having been a gray-green cane with a white waxy bloom, giving it a look worthy of the 'Hinahina' name.

Stalk Color

The stalks were "grayish-green...with a rosy flush" according to Moir, "bronze green overcast with gray" according to USDA, and "green with a pink flush" according to Caum. All sources agree on a moderate to heavy coating of wax, and it is said to have looked somewhat like 'Lahi.'

Internode

According to the USDA the growth rings were olive, narrow, and swollen; the bud furrow lacking; the root band ivory and 7–8 mm high, with 3–4 rows of small, crowded eyes

Bud

The buds were green with olive wings, 16x11 mm, growing at the leaf scar and extending above the growth ring; the buds were broadly ovate with broad wings that were fringed and hairy

Leaf

The leaves are said to have been long and broad. The sheaths had prominent hair groups down the center and on both upper sides of the sheath; the dewlaps were squarish-crescent; the greater auricle was small calcarate and basally fringed, and the lesser auricle was transitional.

Flesh

The flesh was dark brown or orange.

Growth

The general growth type was semi-erect, with stalks of average diameter.

Information

Status: No Known Specimens

Background Information: ‘Ainakea literally means “white (kea) pith/bagasse (‘aina)” or “white land (‘?ina).” According to Fornander this name refers to a particular episode in Hawaiian mythology: K?‘ula and K?ne, two powerful akua, practiced their sorcery on the people of Honua‘ula, Maui, and left the bodies of the dead strewn about and exposed. The duo added further insult by snacking on sugarcane grown by the victims to quench their thirst; since this time the cane has been called ‘Ainakea in reference to the white bones left bleaching in the sun. However, many l?‘au lapa‘au sources indicate that the name refers to the flesh of the cane, which is said to be the whitest of all Hawaiian canes – a particularly rare trait for a dark-skinned variety. An alternative name, Laenihi, refers generally to high-headed labroid fish of the genera Hemipteronotus and Iniistius. Another name, P?kea, is a quantifying term applied to Laenihi that refers to a whitish coloration and was used to denote a specific species of fish. ‘Ainakea was one of the few canes used in medicinal concoctions by the kahuna h?h?, and was important in the treatments for p?‘ao‘ao, ‘ea, hilo, and waiki.

Historical Description: ‘Ainakea is said to be [DE1] one of the prettiest Hawaiian canes, similar in appearance to ‘?hi‘a when it is young but lightening in color as it grows. It was often said to be one of the best-producing native cane varieties and was popular cane home gardens, particularly in dry and lowland areas.

Stalk Color

The stalks are described by Moir as “maroon-red and striped with apple-green when young, and changing to purplish-red and yellow when mature”; by Fornander as “red with long white stripes”; and by Spencer as “a ribbon cane, green and purple.” Alternatively, Ka‘aiakamanu compares it to Manulele (a striped cane), and states that the stalks were “dark reddish as the p?polo liquid.”

Authored by: Noa Kekuewa Lincoln.
Please properly cite any use of information or graphics from this page.

Lincoln, N. (2017) Kō: An Ethnobotanical Guide to Hawaiian Sugarcane Varieties.
Retrieved from: http://cms.ctahr.hawaii.edu/cane/Home.aspx