Kingdom Plantae Family Ericaceae Scientific name Styphelia tameiameiae | Order Ericales Genus Styphelia Rank Species | |
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Similar Leptecophylla, Styphelia, ʻŌhelo ʻai, Sophora chrysophylla, Myoporum sandwicense |
Styphelia tameiameiae, known as pūkiawe or maiele in the Hawaiian language, is a species of flowering plant in the heather family, Ericaceae, that is native to the Hawaiian and Marquesas Islands. The specific epithet honors King Kamehameha I, who formed the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. It grows as a tree up to 4.6 m (15 ft) tall in forests and as a shrub 0.9–3 m (3.0–9.8 ft) in height elsewhere. Its small needle-like leaves are whitish underneath, dark green above. The round berries range in color from white through shades of pink to red. Pūkiawe is found in a variety of habitats in Hawaii at elevations of 15–3,230 m (49–10,597 ft), including mixed mesic forests, wet forests, bogs, and alpine shrublands.
References
Styphelia tameiameiae Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA