Alyxia stellata facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Alyxia stellata |
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| Scientific classification | |
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Alyxia
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| Species: |
stellata
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Alyxia oliviformis Gaudich. |
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Maile (pronounced MY-lay) is the Hawaiian name for a special plant called Alyxia stellata. It's a type of flowering plant that belongs to the dogbane family. This amazing plant is found only in Hawaii.
Maile can grow in different ways. It can be a climbing vine, a sprawling shrub, or even a small upright bush. It's one of the few vines that are endemic (meaning found nowhere else) to the Hawaiian Islands. Its scientific name, Alyxia stellata, means "chain resembling olive" in Latin.
The leaves of the maile plant usually grow in groups of three, but sometimes they can be opposite each other on the stem. The flowers are small and not very noticeable, but they have a lovely, light scent like honey. The bark of the maile plant is the most fragrant part. If you break a piece, it releases a slightly sticky, milky sap. This is a common feature of plants in the dogbane family.
Maile contains a sweet-smelling compound called coumarin. This is the same compound found in plants like vanilla grass and woodruff. When the maile fruit ripens, it turns dark purple and is oval-shaped. Maile plants can look quite different from one another, and the Hawaiian names for them often describe these differences.
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Where Maile Grows
Maile can be found in many different types of environments across the main Hawaiian Islands. It grows from low elevations (about 160 feet) all the way up to high elevations (about 6,500 feet). It's believed that maile also grew on the islands of Kahoʻolawe and Niʻihau a long time ago, before big changes happened there.
Maile thrives in lowland wet forests, which are found between 300 and 4,000 feet high. These areas usually get a lot of rain, often between 60 and 200 inches per year. You can also find maile in montane mesic (moderately wet) and wet communities higher up in the mountains.
How People Use Maile
Lei Making
Maile is most famous for its use in making lei. A lei is a traditional Hawaiian garland. The long maile vines are carefully prepared and twisted together to create beautiful, open-ended lei. Sometimes, people prefer to close the lei into a circle.
In rural areas, people often gather their own maile if they can find it. However, because maile lei are so popular, many flower shops sell them. Maile is one of the few native Hawaiian plants grown on farms specifically for making lei. This has become more common because some people feel that maile grown outside of Hawaii isn't as fragrant as the Hawaiian kind.
Traditional Healing
In old Hawaii, maile was used in Lāʻau Lapaʻau, which is traditional Hawaiian medicine. It was used to help clean and soothe certain skin conditions and cuts. For example, a type of maile called Maile kaluhea would be crushed with parts of other plants like ʻaukoʻi, ʻahakea, and koa bark. Water would be added to this mixture and heated. Then, it was applied to affected areas to help clean them.
Local Celebrations
Lei maile are often worn during special events. For example, grooms and their groomsmen sometimes wear them at weddings. In Hawaii, it's also common for boys to receive a lei maile for high school proms. Birthdays, graduations, anniversaries, and almost any celebration are good reasons to wear a lei maile. However, many people who care for the land understand that there isn't enough wild maile for everyone. This is another reason why local maile farms have become important.
Scenting Kapa
Kapa is a traditional Hawaiian cloth made by pounding the bark of the wauke plant (paper mulberry). Fragrant plants like maile, mokihana, lauaʻe, ʻiliahi (sandalwood), and kamani were used to give the kapa a pleasant scent.
Protecting Maile
Because maile is so popular for harvesting, it's often included in projects that aim to restore native Hawaiian forests. This helps local communities get involved in protecting their environment. One study looked at how planting native Hawaiian plants like maile, māmaki, and palapalai could help reduce the growth of unwanted weeds in restored areas.
Maile in Hawaiian Stories
Maile is mentioned in many Hawaiian stories (moʻolelo), wise sayings (ʻōlelo noʻeau), and songs (mele).
The Maile Sisters
The "Maile sisters" are popular characters in Hawaiian romance stories. One famous story, Lāʻieikawai, tells of five Maile sisters. Each sister represents a different type of maile:
- Maile haʻi wale (brittle maile)
- Maile lau liʻi (small-leaved maile)
- Maile lau nui (large-leaved maile)
- Maile kaluhea (sweet-scented maile)
- Maile pakaha (blunt-leaved maile)
The maile lau liʻi from Kauai is often celebrated in songs and chants. A wise saying, Ka maile lau liʻi o Koʻiahi, talks about the "fine-leaved" maile from Kokeʻe, Kauai. This area was known for having some of the best and most fragrant maile lau liʻi in Hawaii, and it was praised in old chants. In ancient times, maile was often placed on heiau (Hawaiian temples). Older Hawaiians say that the sweet scent of maile can still be smelled in places where heiau once stood or are still standing today.
Fragrant Puna and Panaʻewa
Many wise sayings from the Hilo and Puna areas on Hawaiʻi Island describe these places as wonderfully fragrant. For example, Ka makani hali ʻala o Puna means "the fragrance-bearing wind of Puna." Another saying, Lei Hanakahi i ke ʻala me ke onaona o Panaʻewa, means "Hanakahi is adorned with the fragrance and perfume of Panaʻewa." Both Puna and Panaʻewa had moist climates perfect for maile and other sweet-smelling plants, as well as the famous hala tree from Puna. The phrase Puna paia ʻala, meaning "fragrant walls of Puna," refers to the hīnano blossom, which was often hung inside homes in that area to make them smell nice. People would travel to Puna and Panaʻewa just to pick maile, which is why these areas are remembered for their beautiful scents.
The Story of Mōlī
Mary Kawena Pukui shared a story from Kaʻū on Hawaiʻi Island about a beautiful young woman named Mōlī. Her father wanted her to marry a good fisherman. A lazy fisherman tricked Mōlī's father and married her, but then he did no work. Mōlī was very sad. She made a beautiful lei of ginger, fern, and maile, and went to the cliffs at Waiʻahukini. It is said that each year around the time of her sadness, Mōlī returns. When the wind blows, sad sounds can be heard. The maile fragrance of her lei can also be smelled. If anyone goes there wearing a maile lei, they might feel a strange force.
Keaoua Kekuaokalani
Keaoua Kekuaokalani was a cousin of Liholiho (Kamehameha II). He disagreed with the changes happening in the Hawaiian kingdom at the time. He and his supporters gathered for a historical event at Kuamoʻo. People from the area where this event took place say that the fragrance of maile, worn by Kekuaokalani's supporters, can still be smelled there today.
