Common Names:
Māmaki
Māmake
Kauai pipturus

Classification:

Kingdom: Plantae-Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta - Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta - Seed plants
Division; Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida - Dicotyledons
Subclass: Hamamelidae
Order: Urticales
Family: Urticaceae - Nettle family
Genus: Pipturus Weddell - Pipturus
Species: Pipturus kauaiensis Heller - Kauai pipturus

(USDA, NRCS. 2006. The PLANTS Database, 6 March 2006 (http://plants.usda.gov). Data compiled from various sources by Mark W. Skinner. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.)
(Wagner, W. L., Herbst, D. R., and S. H. Sohmer. 1999. Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawai`i. Revised Edition. Volume 2. Bishop Museum Special Publication 97. University of Hawai`i Press, Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu, Hawai`i.)

Both the branches and leaves of Māmaki are covered with distinctive white hairs. The hairs are often visible on new leaves and the lower leaf surface can be completely obscured by short woolly hairs. Māmaki flowers develop in clusters in the leaf axils (between the base of the petiole that supports the blade of the leaf and the stem) which gives this plant a very distinctive appearance when it is flowering. Plants can produce either pistillate flowers (producing only female structures) or perfect flowers (producing both male and female structures). The clusters of flowers are only 3-4 mm in diameter and the individual flowers are even smaller (1-2.4 mm long). The fruit is also small (0.9-1.0 mm long), dry, and single seeded however the base of the flower persists and becomes fleshy during fruit formation surrounding the dry fruit with fleshy white tissue.

(Wagner, W. L., Herbst, D. R., and S. H. Sohmer. 1999. Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawai`i. Revised Edition. Volume 2. Bishop Museum Special Publication 97. University of Hawai`i Press, Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu, Hawai`i.)

It occurs in mesic forest ranging in elevation from 60 to 1280 m. There are three other species in this genus in Hawai`i. The most common species is P. albidus which is found extensively throughout the Hawaiian archipelago. The genus Pipturus is found throughout the Pacific including species in Australia, Melesia, and the Mascarene Islands.

(Mabberley, D. J., 1997. The Plant-Book: A portable dictionary of the vascular plants. Second edition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England.)
(Wagner, W. L., Herbst, D. R., and S. H. Sohmer. 1999. Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawai`i. Revised Edition. Volume 2. Bishop Museum Special Publication 97. University of Hawai`i Press, Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu, Hawai`i.)

(Abbott, I A. 1992. Lā`au Hawii`i: Traditional Hawaiian Uses of Plants. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu, Hawai`i.)

** The information provided above is not intended to be used as a guide for treatment of medical conditions using plants.

Other host plants for these beetles includ Koa, Alani, Ohi`a, and Mamane. The female beetle lays the eggs on the branches or stems of dead or dying trees and when the larvae hatch they bore into the bark to feed leaving tell-tale trails in the wood. The larvae excavate a cell in the wood of the tree to pupate and once again bore their way out of the wood when they emerge as adults.

(Gressitt, J.L. 1980. The Hawaiian Ceramycid Beetles. Proceedings of the Third Conference in Nat. Sci. Hawaii Volcanoes Nat. Park.)

Many more branches were needed to provide enough fiber for the production of kapa from māmaki than from wauke however it produced very good quality kapa and was highly valued. Kapa that is produced from māmaki is naturally brown in color and may be further colored by the application of oil obtained from the Kukui (Aleurites moluccana) fruit.

(Abbott, I A. 1992. Lā`au Hawii`i: Traditional Hawaiian Uses of Plants. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu, Hawai`i.)