''Touchardia'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s in the

nettle {{redirect, Nettle Nettle refers to plants with stinging hairs, particularly those of the genus '' Urtica''. It can also refer to plants which resemble ''Urtica'' species in appearance but do not have stinging hairs. Plants called "nettle" includ ...

family,

Urticaceae The Urticaceae are a family, the nettle family, of flowering plants. The family name comes from the genus ''Urtica''. The Urticaceae include a number of well-known and useful plants, including nettles in the genus ''Urtica'', ramie (''Boehmeri ...

. It is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

containing a single species, ''Touchardia latifolia'', commonly known as olonā in Hawaiian. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the

Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kur ...

Etymology

The genus name of ''Touchardia'' is in honour of Philippe Victor Touchard (1810–1879), a French vice-admiral. The Latin

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

of ''latifolia'' means long flat leaves. Both the genus and the species were first described and published in Voy. Bonite, Bot. Vol.3 on table 94 in 1848.

Description

Typical to many Hawaiian plants, olonā does not have the stinging hairs of its mainland cousins. It is found on all the main Hawaiian islands except Kahoolawe and Niihau. Olonā has alternate leaves whose shape greatly varies depending upon the environment from thin lancolate to broad elliptic. The large range in leaf variation once divided ''T. latifolia'' into more than 10 species, which are currently considered to be one. Olonā typically flowers between the months of May through December Link text
Herbarium Vouchers. The female flowers are borne on branching cymes which become fleshy orange berry-like achenes, and the male flowers are white. Olonā is easily cultivated (83% germination rate), and sprouts readily from cuttings, but does not transplant well due to its fragile roots.

Distribution and habitat

''Touchardia latifolia'' is

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

and is found in mesic valleys and wet forests at elevations of .

Cultural use

Native Hawaiians Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, First Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians) ( haw, kānaka, , , and ), are the indigenous ethnic group of Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaii ...

cultivated olonā for cordage, and it was considered one of the finest grades of

fibers Fiber or fibre (from la, fibra, links=no) is a natural or artificial substance that is significantly longer than it is wide. Fibers are often used in the manufacture of other materials. The strongest engineering materials often incorporate ...

. Its intertwining strands makes it one of the strongest natural fibers on earth. Olonā was used extensively in Hawaiian weaponry: as cordage on the wrist loop of pāhoa (

dagger A dagger is a fighting knife with a very sharp point and usually two sharp edges, typically designed or capable of being used as a thrusting or stabbing weapon.State v. Martin, 633 S.W.2d 80 (Mo. 1982): This is the dictionary or popular-use de ...

s); for fastening

shark teeth Sharks continually shed their teeth; some Carcharhiniformes shed approximately 35,000 teeth in a lifetime, replacing those that fall out. There are four basic types of shark teeth: dense flattened, needle-like, pointed lower with triangular upp ...

on the heads of

leiomano The leiomano is a shark-toothed club used by various Polynesian cultures, but mostly by the native Hawaiians. Leiomano is a word in the Hawaiian language and may have been derived from ''lei o manō'', which means "a shark's lei." The weapon r ...

; and as the cord in "tripping weapons", such as the pīkoi. Olonā was also used for fishing nets and carrying baskets called kōkō. The fine cordage was once sought by many people around the world, like climbers and sailors, because of its incomparable strength and durability. Olonā was typically cultivated near an upland stream area which was used to soak the newly harvested fibers between 24 and 72 hours before placing it on long board and using a scraper (sometimes made out of shell or turtle) to remove the excess outer bark. Once the olonā was prepared and dry, there was so much fiber in the bark that it peels off in sheets of ribbon. The outer bark of olonā was typically stripped in the uplands and hung around necks as lei.

References

External links