Wiliwili
Encyclopedia
Wiliwili is a species
of flowering
tree
in the pea
family
, Fabaceae
that is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands
. It is the only species of Erythrina that naturally occurs
there. It is typically found in dry forests
on leeward
island slopes up to an elevation of 600 m (1,968.5 ft).
Wiliwili is occasionally seen in cultivation in Hawaii. It is easily propagated
from cuttings. Seven other species of Erythrina
are in general cultivation in the Hawaiian Islands. They are popular street trees in dry areas. At least 80 others are known in botanical garden
s there. No species of Erythrina is known to be naturalized
in Hawaii.
The wiliwili is distinguished from the other seven cultivated species by a pod with only one to three red or yellow-orange seed
s; non-native Erythrina have pods with larger numbers of brown seeds. Wiliwili trees grow to a height of 4.5–9 m (14.8–29.5 ft) with a gnarled and stout trunk
that reaches 0.3–0.9 m (0.984251968503937–3 ft) in diameter. The bark
is smooth, slightly fissured, and covered in gray or black spines
up to 1 cm (0.393700787401575 in) in length. The bark on the main trunk of mature trees has a distinct orange cast, which is caused by a terrestrial alga
.
The wiliwili is summer (dry season
) deciduous
. The dry season usually begins in late April or in May, and trees in the wild typically lose all of their leaves before they bloom. Trees in cultivation may retain much of their foliage thru blooming time
. The flowers appear in the first half of the dry season, from April through July. They form on horizontal or nearly horizontal raceme
s that are 7.5–15 cm (3–5.9 in) long. The flower color may be orange, yellow, salmon, greenish or whitish. Sometimes all of these colors occur in a single population. The standard petal
is erect, not enclosing the other petals. Like all of the erythrinas, the wiliwili is pollinated by bird
s. The horizontal raceme and the erect standard are adaptations to pollination by passerine
birds. Many other erythrinas are pollinated by hummingbird
s.
Pods develop and persist on the tree, with the seeds remaining attached long after the pods have opened. The seeds are dislodged by heavy downpours that generally start around November in the islands. Many seeds germinate
quickly, and a well-established seedling can grow to 4 ft (1.2 m) in height before the start of the next dry season.
The wiliwili is an unusual spine-bearer because this is a species that has evolved
in the isolated Hawaiian Islands without the presence ungulate
s or other large herbivore
s. It is thought to be closely related to E. tahitensis
, a tree endemic to the Tahitian Archipelago
, and E. velutina
, a widespread species found in tropical South America
and the Caribbean
.
Wiliwili means "repeatedly twisted" in the Hawaiian language
and refers to the seedpods, which dehisce
, or twist open, to reveal the seeds.
made a number of items from wiliwili wood because of its low density, such as mouo (fishing net
floats), ama
(outrigger canoe
floats, and extremely long papa hee nalu (surfboard
s) called olo. Olo, which averaged 18 feet (5.5 m), were exclusively ridden by alii
(royalty). The wood was sometimes used for the waa
(hull) of outrigger canoes intended to be used near-shore, for recreation, or for training. The shiny orange-red seed
s were strung into lei
.
species in Hawaii, the wiliwili is threatened by competition
with non-native
species that are free of the disease
s, parasites, and herbivore
s that constrain them in their original habitat
s.
It was reported in December 2005 that the Hawaiian wiliwili population was under immediate threat due to an infestation by a gall wasp
, Quadrastichus
erythrinae, which had been first reported in Hawaii in April of that year. This invasive species
appears to have arrived in Hawaii via southern Taiwan
, Singapore
and southern China
within only two years. This species was not known to science and was formally named and described in 2004. It is thought to have originated in Africa, and the means ot its rapid dispersal
across South Asia
, the Pacific, and southern North America
is not understood. The majority of trees of introduced Erythrina species have died as a result of gall wasp infestation. Native wiliwili forests have also been hard hit, particularly Puu o Kali on the island of Maui
-once considered the most pristine example of Hawaii's dryland forest ecosystem.
A second wasp, Eurytoma erythrinae, was released by the Hawaii Department of Agriculture in December 2008 as a biocontrol
to minimize the damaging effects of Quadrastichus. Eurytoma wasps lay their eggs in the gall
s created by Quadrastichus wasps. Eurytoma larvae hatch faster than Quadrastichus larvae, on which they exclusively feed.
. The name means "red", a reference to the flower color of some of the well-known species.
In 1786, in his book Encyclopédie Méthodique: Botanique
, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
originated the name
Erythrina monosperma for a Leguminous
tree from India
and Southeast Asia
. That tree has been known as Butea monosperma ever since William Roxburgh
created the genus Butea in 1795.
Unaware of Lamarck's name, Charles Gaudichaud-Beaupré
created the name Erythrina monosperma for the Hawaiian Erythrina in 1830 in his book Voyage of the Uranus.
In 1841, William Jackson Hooker
and George Arnott
used Gaudichaud's name in their book, The Botany of Captain Beechey's Voyage.
Gaudichaud's name, Erythrina monosperma, was used by most of those who described the Hawaiian species of Erythrina thruout the nineteenth century, including William Hillebrand
.
In 1932, Otto Degener
created the name Erythrina sandwicensis to replace Erythrina monosperma. He stated no reason for the name change. He presented a more complete synonymy
than the one given here. Erythrina sandwicensis is the name that has been used since 1932.
Lala-kea niho pa-kolu.
Pau ka papa-ku o Lono.
O ka ai ia e ka manō nui,
O Niuhi maka ahi,
Olapa i ke kai lipo.
Ahu e! au-we!
A pua ka wiliwili,
A nanahu ka manō
Auwe! pau ai i ka mano nui!
Kai uli, kai ele,
Kai popolohua o Kane.
A lealea au i kau hula,
Pau au i ka manō nui!
Alas! I am seized by the shark, great shark!
Lala-kea with triple-banked teeth.
The stratum of Lono
is gone,
Torn up by the monster shark,
Niuhi with fiery eyes,
That flamed in the deep blue sea.
Alas! and alas!
When the flowers of the wiliwili tree,
That is the time when the shark-god bites.
Alas! I am seized by the huge shark!
O blue sea, O dark sea,
Foam-mottled sea of Kane!
What pleasure I took in my dancing!
Alas! now consumed by the monster shark!
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of flowering
Flowering plant
The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...
tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
in the pea
Pea
A pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the pod fruit Pisum sativum. Each pod contains several peas. Peapods are botanically a fruit, since they contain seeds developed from the ovary of a flower. However, peas are considered to be a vegetable in cooking...
family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
, Fabaceae
Fabaceae
The Fabaceae or Leguminosae, commonly known as the legume, pea, or bean family, is a large and economically important family of flowering plants. The group is the third largest land plant family, behind only the Orchidaceae and Asteraceae, with 730 genera and over 19,400 species...
that is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
. It is the only species of Erythrina that naturally occurs
Indigenous (ecology)
In biogeography, a species is defined as native to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention. Every natural organism has its own natural range of distribution in which it is regarded as native...
there. It is typically found in dry forests
Hawaiian tropical dry forests
The Hawaiian tropical dry forests are a tropical dry broadleaf forest ecoregion in the Hawaiian Islands. They cover an area of on the leeward side of the main islands and the summits of Niihau and Kahoolawe. These forests are either seasonal or sclerophyllous. Annual rainfall is less than and...
on leeward
Windward and leeward
Windward is the direction upwind from the point of reference. Leeward is the direction downwind from the point of reference. The side of a ship that is towards the leeward is its lee side. If the vessel is heeling under the pressure of the wind, this will be the "lower side"...
island slopes up to an elevation of 600 m (1,968.5 ft).
Wiliwili is occasionally seen in cultivation in Hawaii. It is easily propagated
Plant propagation
Plant propagation is the process of creating new plants from a variety of sources: seeds, cuttings, bulbs and other plant parts. Plant propagation can also refer to the artificial or natural dispersal of plants.-Sexual propagation :...
from cuttings. Seven other species of Erythrina
Erythrina
Erythrina is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae. It contains about 130 species, which are distributed in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. They are trees, growing up to in height...
are in general cultivation in the Hawaiian Islands. They are popular street trees in dry areas. At least 80 others are known in botanical garden
Botanical garden
A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...
s there. No species of Erythrina is known to be naturalized
Naturalisation (biology)
In biology, naturalisation is any process by which a non-native organism spreads into the wild and its reproduction is sufficient to maintain its population. Such populations are said to be naturalised....
in Hawaii.
The wiliwili is distinguished from the other seven cultivated species by a pod with only one to three red or yellow-orange seed
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
s; non-native Erythrina have pods with larger numbers of brown seeds. Wiliwili trees grow to a height of 4.5–9 m (14.8–29.5 ft) with a gnarled and stout trunk
Trunk (botany)
In botany, trunk refers to the main wooden axis of a tree that supports the branches and is supported by and directly attached to the roots. The trunk is covered by the bark, which is an important diagnostic feature in tree identification, and which often differs markedly from the bottom of the...
that reaches 0.3–0.9 m (0.984251968503937–3 ft) in diameter. The bark
Bark
Bark is the outermost layers of stems and roots of woody plants. Plants with bark include trees, woody vines and shrubs. Bark refers to all the tissues outside of the vascular cambium and is a nontechnical term. It overlays the wood and consists of the inner bark and the outer bark. The inner...
is smooth, slightly fissured, and covered in gray or black spines
Thorns, spines, and prickles
In botanical morphology, thorns, spines, and prickles are hard structures with sharp, or at least pointed, ends. In spite of this common feature, they differ in their growth and development on the plant; they are modified versions of different plant organs, stems, stipules, leaf veins, or hairs...
up to 1 cm (0.393700787401575 in) in length. The bark on the main trunk of mature trees has a distinct orange cast, which is caused by a terrestrial alga
Algae
Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelps that grow to 65 meters in length. They are photosynthetic like plants, and "simple" because their tissues are not organized into the many...
.
The wiliwili is summer (dry season
Dry season
The dry season is a term commonly used when describing the weather in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which oscillates from the northern to the southern tropics over the course of the year...
) deciduous
Deciduous
Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...
. The dry season usually begins in late April or in May, and trees in the wild typically lose all of their leaves before they bloom. Trees in cultivation may retain much of their foliage thru blooming time
Anthesis
Anthesis is the period during which a flower is fully open and functional. It may also refer to the onset of that period.The onset of anthesis is spectacular in some species. In Banksia species, for example, anthesis involves the extension of the style far beyond the upper perianth parts...
. The flowers appear in the first half of the dry season, from April through July. They form on horizontal or nearly horizontal raceme
Raceme
A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called pedicels — along the axis. In botany, axis means a shoot, in this case one bearing the flowers. In a raceme, the oldest flowers are borne...
s that are 7.5–15 cm (3–5.9 in) long. The flower color may be orange, yellow, salmon, greenish or whitish. Sometimes all of these colors occur in a single population. The standard petal
Petal
Petals are modified leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They often are brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. Together, all of the petals of a flower are called a corolla. Petals are usually accompanied by another set of special leaves called sepals lying...
is erect, not enclosing the other petals. Like all of the erythrinas, the wiliwili is pollinated by bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s. The horizontal raceme and the erect standard are adaptations to pollination by passerine
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...
birds. Many other erythrinas are pollinated by hummingbird
Hummingbird
Hummingbirds are birds that comprise the family Trochilidae. They are among the smallest of birds, most species measuring in the 7.5–13 cm range. Indeed, the smallest extant bird species is a hummingbird, the 5-cm Bee Hummingbird. They can hover in mid-air by rapidly flapping their wings...
s.
Pods develop and persist on the tree, with the seeds remaining attached long after the pods have opened. The seeds are dislodged by heavy downpours that generally start around November in the islands. Many seeds germinate
Germination
Germination is the process in which a plant or fungus emerges from a seed or spore, respectively, and begins growth. The most common example of germination is the sprouting of a seedling from a seed of an angiosperm or gymnosperm. However the growth of a sporeling from a spore, for example the...
quickly, and a well-established seedling can grow to 4 ft (1.2 m) in height before the start of the next dry season.
The wiliwili is an unusual spine-bearer because this is a species that has evolved
Introduction to evolution
Evolution is the process of change in all forms of life over generations, and evolutionary biology is the study of how evolution occurs. The biodiversity of life evolves by means of mutations, genetic drift and natural selection....
in the isolated Hawaiian Islands without the presence ungulate
Ungulate
Ungulates are several groups of mammals, most of which use the tips of their toes, usually hoofed, to sustain their whole body weight while moving. They make up several orders of mammals, of which six to eight survive...
s or other large herbivore
Herbivore
Herbivores are organisms that are anatomically and physiologically adapted to eat plant-based foods. Herbivory is a form of consumption in which an organism principally eats autotrophs such as plants, algae and photosynthesizing bacteria. More generally, organisms that feed on autotrophs in...
s. It is thought to be closely related to E. tahitensis
Erythrina tahitensis
Erythrina tahitensis is a species of legume in the Fabaceae family endemic to French Polynesia.-Source:* Florence, J. 1998. . . Downloaded on 19 July 2007....
, a tree endemic to the Tahitian Archipelago
Tahiti
Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
, and E. velutina
Erythrina velutina
Erythrina velutina is a species of leguminous tree. It is indigenous to Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, and Hispaniola and has been introduced to much of the Caribbean, Uganda, and Sri Lanka. It also occurs on the Galápagos Islands, but whether it is indigenous or introduced there is...
, a widespread species found in tropical South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
and the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
.
Wiliwili means "repeatedly twisted" in the Hawaiian language
Hawaiian language
The Hawaiian language is a Polynesian language that takes its name from Hawaii, the largest island in the tropical North Pacific archipelago where it developed. Hawaiian, along with English, is an official language of the state of Hawaii...
and refers to the seedpods, which dehisce
Dehiscence (botany)
Dehiscence is the opening, at maturity, in a pre-defined way, of a plant structure, such as a fruit, anther, or sporangium, to release its contents. Sometimes this involves the complete detachment of a part. Structures that open in this way are said to be dehiscent...
, or twist open, to reveal the seeds.
Uses
Native HawaiiansNative Hawaiians
Native Hawaiians refers to the indigenous Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands or their descendants. Native Hawaiians trace their ancestry back to the original Polynesian settlers of Hawaii.According to the U.S...
made a number of items from wiliwili wood because of its low density, such as mouo (fishing net
Fishing net
A fishing net or fishnet is a net that is used for fishing. Fishing nets are meshes usually formed by knotting a relatively thin thread. Modern nets are usually made of artificial polyamides like nylon, although nets of organic polyamides such as wool or silk thread were common until recently and...
floats), ama
Ama (sailing)
The term ama is a word in the Polynesian and Micronesian languages to describe the outrigger part of a canoe to provide stability. Today, among the various Polynesian countries, the word ama is often used together with the word vaka or waka or va'a , cognate words in various Polynesian languages...
(outrigger canoe
Outrigger canoe
The outrigger canoe is a type of canoe featuring one or more lateral support floats known as outriggers, which are fastened to one or both sides of the main hull...
floats, and extremely long papa hee nalu (surfboard
Surfboard
A surfboard is an elongated platform used in the sport of surfing. Surfboards are relatively light, but are strong enough to support an individual standing on them while riding a breaking wave...
s) called olo. Olo, which averaged 18 feet (5.5 m), were exclusively ridden by alii
Ali'i
Alii is a word in the Polynesian language denoting chiefly status in ancient Hawaii and the Samoa Islands. A similar word with the same concept is found in other Polynesian societies. In the Cook Islands, an ariki is a high chief and the House of Ariki is a parliamentary house...
(royalty). The wood was sometimes used for the waa
Vaka (sailing)
The vaka is the main hull of a multihull vessel.-Origin and use of the term:The term vaka is used in the Polynesian, Malay and Micronesian languages for a 'canoe', 'ship' or 'boat.' Other parts of a traditional vaka can include the aka and ama .A proa consists of a vaka, the main canoe-like...
(hull) of outrigger canoes intended to be used near-shore, for recreation, or for training. The shiny orange-red seed
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
s were strung into lei
Lei (Hawaii)
Lei is a Hawaiian word for a garland or wreath. More loosely defined, a lei is any series of objects strung together with the intent to be worn. The most popular concept of a lei in Hawaiian culture is a wreath of flowers draped around the neck presented upon arriving or leaving as a symbol of...
.
Threats
Like other indigenousIndigenous (ecology)
In biogeography, a species is defined as native to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention. Every natural organism has its own natural range of distribution in which it is regarded as native...
species in Hawaii, the wiliwili is threatened by competition
Competition (biology)
Competition is an interaction between organisms or species, in which the fitness of one is lowered by the presence of another. Limited supply of at least one resource used by both is required. Competition both within and between species is an important topic in ecology, especially community ecology...
with non-native
Introduced species
An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...
species that are free of the disease
Disease
A disease is an abnormal condition affecting the body of an organism. It is often construed to be a medical condition associated with specific symptoms and signs. It may be caused by external factors, such as infectious disease, or it may be caused by internal dysfunctions, such as autoimmune...
s, parasites, and herbivore
Herbivore
Herbivores are organisms that are anatomically and physiologically adapted to eat plant-based foods. Herbivory is a form of consumption in which an organism principally eats autotrophs such as plants, algae and photosynthesizing bacteria. More generally, organisms that feed on autotrophs in...
s that constrain them in their original habitat
Habitat
* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...
s.
It was reported in December 2005 that the Hawaiian wiliwili population was under immediate threat due to an infestation by a gall wasp
Gall wasp
Gall wasps , also called Gallflies, are a family of the order Hymenoptera and are classified with the Apocrita suborder of wasps in the superfamily Cynipoidea...
, Quadrastichus
Quadrastichus
Quadrastichus is a genus of hymenopteran insects of the family Eulophidae.-References:**...
erythrinae, which had been first reported in Hawaii in April of that year. This invasive species
Invasive species
"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....
appears to have arrived in Hawaii via southern Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and southern China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
within only two years. This species was not known to science and was formally named and described in 2004. It is thought to have originated in Africa, and the means ot its rapid dispersal
Biological dispersal
Biological dispersal refers to species movement away from an existing population or away from the parent organism. Through simply moving from one habitat patch to another, the dispersal of an individual has consequences not only for individual fitness, but also for population dynamics, population...
across South Asia
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
, the Pacific, and southern North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
is not understood. The majority of trees of introduced Erythrina species have died as a result of gall wasp infestation. Native wiliwili forests have also been hard hit, particularly Puu o Kali on the island of Maui
Maui
The island of Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is part of the state of Hawaii and is the largest of Maui County's four islands, bigger than Lānai, Kahoolawe, and Molokai. In 2010, Maui had a population of 144,444,...
-once considered the most pristine example of Hawaii's dryland forest ecosystem.
A second wasp, Eurytoma erythrinae, was released by the Hawaii Department of Agriculture in December 2008 as a biocontrol
Biological pest control
Biological control of pests in agriculture is a method of controlling pests that relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or other natural mechanisms...
to minimize the damaging effects of Quadrastichus. Eurytoma wasps lay their eggs in the gall
Gall
Galls or cecidia are outgrowths on the surface of lifeforms caused by invasion by other lifeforms, such as parasites or bacterial infection. Plant galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissues and can be caused by various parasites, from fungi and bacteria, to insects and mites...
s created by Quadrastichus wasps. Eurytoma larvae hatch faster than Quadrastichus larvae, on which they exclusively feed.
History
The genus Erythrina was established by Linnaeus in 1753 in his book, Species PlantarumSpecies Plantarum
Species Plantarum was first published in 1753, as a two-volume work by Carl Linnaeus. Its prime importance is perhaps that it is the primary starting point of plant nomenclature as it exists today. This means that the first names to be considered validly published in botany are those that appear...
. The name means "red", a reference to the flower color of some of the well-known species.
In 1786, in his book Encyclopédie Méthodique: Botanique
Encyclopédie Méthodique
The Encyclopédie méthodique par ordre des matières is a roughly 210 to 216 volumes encyclopedia that was published between 1782 and 1832 by the French publisher Charles Joseph Panckoucke, his son-in-law Henri Agasse, and the latter´s wife, Thérèse-Charlotte Agasse...
, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, Chevalier de la Marck , often known simply as Lamarck, was a French naturalist...
originated the name
Botanical name
A botanical name is a formal scientific name conforming to the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature and, if it concerns a plant cultigen, the additional cultivar and/or Group epithets must conform to the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants...
Erythrina monosperma for a Leguminous
Fabaceae
The Fabaceae or Leguminosae, commonly known as the legume, pea, or bean family, is a large and economically important family of flowering plants. The group is the third largest land plant family, behind only the Orchidaceae and Asteraceae, with 730 genera and over 19,400 species...
tree from India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
. That tree has been known as Butea monosperma ever since William Roxburgh
William Roxburgh
William Roxburgh was a Scottish surgeon and botanist. He has been called the Father of Indian Botany.-Early life:Roxburgh was born at Underwood in the parish of Craigie, Ayrshire. He studied medicine in Edinburgh...
created the genus Butea in 1795.
Unaware of Lamarck's name, Charles Gaudichaud-Beaupré
Charles Gaudichaud-Beaupré
Charles Gaudichaud-Beaupré was a French botanist.He was born in Angoulême, the son of J-J. Gaudichaud and Rose Gaudichaud. He studied pharmacology at Cognac and Angoulême. He also studied chemistry and herbology.His greatest claim to fame was serving as botanist on a circumglobal expedition from...
created the name Erythrina monosperma for the Hawaiian Erythrina in 1830 in his book Voyage of the Uranus.
In 1841, William Jackson Hooker
William Jackson Hooker
Sir William Jackson Hooker, FRS was an English systematic botanist and organiser. He held the post of Regius Professor of Botany at Glasgow University, and was the first Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. He enjoyed the friendship and support of Sir Joseph Banks for his exploring,...
and George Arnott
George Arnott Walker-Arnott
George Arnott Walker-Arnott was a Scottish botanist.He studied law in Edinburgh though later became a botanist, holding the position of Regius Professor of Botany in the University of Glasgow. He studied the botany of North America with Sir William Hooker and collaborated with Robert Wight in...
used Gaudichaud's name in their book, The Botany of Captain Beechey's Voyage.
Gaudichaud's name, Erythrina monosperma, was used by most of those who described the Hawaiian species of Erythrina thruout the nineteenth century, including William Hillebrand
William Hillebrand
William Hillebrand was a German physician. He traveled the world, including over 20 years in the Hawaiian islands. In 1850, Hillebrand lived at what is now Foster Botanical Garden in Honolulu. He also became known as a botanist.-Life and career:...
.
In 1932, Otto Degener
Otto Degener
Otto Degener was a botanist and conservationist who specialized in identifying plants of the Hawaiian Islands.-Life:Otto Degener was born May 13, 1899 in East Orange, New Jersey. Degener graduated from the Massachusetts Agricultural College...
created the name Erythrina sandwicensis to replace Erythrina monosperma. He stated no reason for the name change. He presented a more complete synonymy
Synonym (taxonomy)
In scientific nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that is or was used for a taxon of organisms that also goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnaeus was the first to give a scientific name to the Norway spruce, which he called Pinus abies...
than the one given here. Erythrina sandwicensis is the name that has been used since 1932.
Wiliwili hula chant
Auwe! Pau au i ka manō nui, e!Lala-kea niho pa-kolu.
Pau ka papa-ku o Lono.
O ka ai ia e ka manō nui,
O Niuhi maka ahi,
Olapa i ke kai lipo.
Ahu e! au-we!
A pua ka wiliwili,
A nanahu ka manō
Auwe! pau ai i ka mano nui!
Kai uli, kai ele,
Kai popolohua o Kane.
A lealea au i kau hula,
Pau au i ka manō nui!
Alas! I am seized by the shark, great shark!
Lala-kea with triple-banked teeth.
The stratum of Lono
Lono
In Hawaiian mythology, the deity Lono is associated with fertility, agriculture, rainfall, and music. In one of the many Hawaiian legends of Lono, he is a fertility and music god who descended to Earth on a rainbow to marry Laka. In agricultural and planting traditions, Lono was identified with...
is gone,
Torn up by the monster shark,
Niuhi with fiery eyes,
That flamed in the deep blue sea.
Alas! and alas!
When the flowers of the wiliwili tree,
That is the time when the shark-god bites.
Alas! I am seized by the huge shark!
O blue sea, O dark sea,
Foam-mottled sea of Kane!
What pleasure I took in my dancing!
Alas! now consumed by the monster shark!
External links
- Erythrina At: Cultivated Plants At: Botany Databases At: HBS
- Erythrina In: Species Plantarum At: Biodiversity Heritage Library
- Erythrina In: Encyclopédie Méthodique: Botanique At: Biodiversity Heritage Library
- Erythrina In: The Botany of Captain Beechey's Voyage At: Biodiversity Heritage Library
- Erythrina In: Flora of the Hawaiian Islands In: Biodiversity Heritage Library