The Loulu palm is friendly.  It has no thorns to intimidate you.  It is beautiful and captures the essence of “tropical”.  I recall seeing my first loulu in 1970; an acquaintance happened to have a potted specimen with him from a plant sale when I met up with him in Central Maui.  I admired the palm so much I resolved to get one for my garden.  The fan palms I recall to that point had thorns.  They were most likely Livistona chinensis, the Chinese fan palm that is plentiful around the Hana area.

Within a year or two, I did acquire my own thornless fan palm.  I was still not aware of  loulu.  Later in the 1970s I read about these Hawaiian palms in an article in our local newspaper.  The article mentioned that there were a number of species of loulu and that they were endemic  to specific areas on each of the islands in Hawaii.  The spark of interest lit a passion in my being.  To collect and grow at least one of each of the species in my garden became a goal.  I determined that the specimen I was growing was a Pritchardia thurstonii which is native to Fiji.

Pritchardia thurstonii, my first Pritchardia acquisition

In the spring of 1980, I was walking on the grounds of a hotel in Kona on the Big Island, waiting for my flight time to return to Hana, when I came across a stand of Pritchardia palms that were not too tall and loaded with ripe fruit, some of which were on the ground.  I picked up a few fruit and brought them home with me.  Two of the seeds from these fruit germinated and grew into fine specimens.  I was sure the specimens I acquired were Pritchardia beccariana, a species native to East Hawaii (the Big Island).  The leaves of this palm were very flat and about four to five feet in diameter.  I had read that Pritchardia beccariana was the largest of the Hawaiian species; this acquisition had such large leaves it just had to be P. beccariana.     But, several years later, when I acquired a specimen of Pritchardia pacifica at a plant sale, I realized that what I had growing in my garden was also Pritchardia pacifica.  They also are native to Fiji.

Pritchardia pacifica, my second acquisition of Pritchardia palms

My quest to acquire a specimen of each of the Hawaiian Pritchardia species was off to a slow start.  The Hawaiian garden at the Maui Zoo in the early 1980s became a source of seed for several species; only one specimen (Pritchardia munroi) grew to maturity, the rest succumbed to either disease or trunk boring pests.  I discovered a specimen of Pritchardia arecina, the species endemic to the slopes of Haleakala, the mountain that forms the east end of the Island of Maui.  It is a cultivated specimen growing in a semi-wild environment at about 1000 feet elevation in Nahiku.  The native habitat is at 2000 to 4000 feet elevation along  the northeastern face of Haleakala.

Pritchardia arecina, the source of seed for my first Loulu acquisition

In 1993, I brought home three specimens of Pritchardia beccariana from Hilo on the Big Island.  Two of these trees are growing at our former residence where the P. thurstonii and P. pacifica are shown; one of these is shown in the photo below:

Pritchardia beccariana, brought to Hana from the volcano area on the Big Island

In 1990, I started a new garden some two hundred yards up the road from our old residence on our farm lot.  This is where my collection began in earnest, where the specimen of Pritchardia munroi still lives.  I have added to the loulu collection over the years; there are now specimens of Pritchardia arecina, Pritchardia beccariana, Pritchardia forbesiana, Pritchardia hillebrandii, Pritchardia maideniana,  Pritchardia martii, Pritchardi remota and others.  The latest account by Don Hodel now states that there are twenty four species native to Hawaii.  Palm collecting is addictive.  I found myself trading my loulu seeds with a seed merchant for seeds of exotic palm species from around the world.   There are some incredibly beautiful and strange looking palms.  They do not all grow for me here in Hana.

Pritchardia remota, Wakiu, Hana, Maui

Loulu

Loulu is the Hawaiian name for the palms of the genus Pritchardia.  The genus is comprised of some thirty or so species of fan palms, currently twenty four are considered endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.  These trees range from twenty five to a hundred feet in height.  They have solitary trunks or stems, are monoecious (having  both male and female flowers) with costapalmate (fan shaped with a midrib) leaves.  They inhabit all of the major islands of the Hawaiian chain as well as Nihoa Island to the northwest of Kauai.

Many of these palms are endangered and some are extinct in their native habitats.  The bulk of these beautiful palms grows in rain forests above one thousand feet in elevation.  Those species native to drier areas grow at or near surface or seeping waters  usually fed by springs.  The endangered status of many of these palms is the result of invasive species of plants and animals degrading the natural habitat and or devouring  the seeds and seedlings.

Loulu have large, stiff, pleated costapalmate  (though not obvious) leaves; most species have wide, nearly flat leaves.  The petioles (leaf stalks) are long, stout and unarmed, often covered in a dense chalklike light tomentum as are the sheaths (leaf based that attaches to the stem or trunk).  The inflorescences (cluster of flowers) sometimes extend  beyond the leaf crown; they consist of a tubular series of bracts (modified leaf below the flowers) from which the stiff and short flowering branches project  bearing white, yellow or orange bi-sexual flowers.  The fruit range from 1/4 inch to 2 inches or more in diameter; and are spherical to ovoid in shape taking on a reddish brown to black color when ripe.  The immature fruit are considered a delicacy by Hawaiians.

The young fruits and flowers  of one species of loulu in the Kohala Mountains of the Big Island were apparently an important food source for an endemic Hawaiian honeycreeper, the bright red, dramatically marked ‘ula’ai hawane, a bird last seen a century ago and now considered extinct.

Some species grow near the seashore and can withstand salt laden winds and slight salinity in the soil.  These are some of the world’s most beautiful palms and should be considered for a position in any tropical  or near-tropical garden large enough to accommodate them that is not affected by lethal yellowing.

Loulu is used medicinally by the Hawaiians to treat ‘ea, thrush disease of children evident by a coated tongue sometimes accompanied by sore throat, and pa’ao’ao, a latent childhood disease causing physical weakening in children and adults.  The leaf bud and inner flesh of the palm are combined with niu (coconut, cocos nucifera), ko kea (white sugarcane, Saccharum officiarnarum),  ‘ohi’a bark (Metrosideros sp.) and  ‘ala’alawainui pehu (Peperomia sp.).   All of the items are pounded into a liquid form and drunk three times a day.

Loulu palm leaves were erected to signify a temporary, special ‘heiau loulu’ (shrine) where gods of fishing were seasonally propitiated.  One of the most elegant fans known from the Hawaiian Islands is thought to have been made partly from loulu fronds.  In the Ethnology Collection at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu there is a hat that is likely made from these fronds as well.

The leaves were also used by the Hawaiians for thatch on their dwellings in the vicinity of the loulu stands.  Most species of loulu grow in the rainforest on mountain slopes at elevations above 1000 feet.  This being the case, loulu leaves were not always the most convenient source of thatching as most dwellings were erected  in less harsh climes.  The loulu that grow in the drier climates of the lowlands and coastal  regions such as Pritchardia maideniana and Pritchardia hillebrandii may have been cultivated  and transported to other areas for cultivation in order to have a ready source of thatching material as well as a source of the edible fruit.

In studying this genus of palms, I find variations of the physical traits of certain species when cultivating them in other than their native ground or immediate vicinity.  The most noticeable impacts I see are upon the size of fruit and the character of leaf.  These impacts are seen in specimens cultivated at lower elevations and drier climates than in the native habitats.  Loulu are suspected of readily hybridizing, so differences appearing in successive generations are not a surprise.  This is especially true if the environment in which a specimen is relocated contains specimens of other species of loulu.  In these kinds of situations, it is best that the flowers are hand pollinated to ensure the seeds produce true to the species.

The photograph below shows two specimens of Pritchardia; one of them is Pritchardia arecina I was told by the caretaker of the old Hawaiian garden that was part of the Maui Zoo.  Rene Silva said a forestry ranger gave him the seeds to plant.  Neither of these trees look like the Pritchardia arecina in the earlier photograph that is growing in Nahiku.

Pritchardia spp., Maui Nui Botanical Garden, Kahului, Maui

In 1980, Don Hodel listed in the Journal Principes thirty three species and six varieties of loulu.  Since then, groups of species with overlapping character traits have been consolidated into a single species.  The movement was most prominent on the Island of Oahu where at least seven former species  (gaudichaudii, kahanae, kahukuensis, kamapuaana, macdanielsii, martioides, and rockiana) were consolidated into the species Pritchardia martii. The species Pritchardia lowreyana absorbed brevicalyx, donata, and macrocarpa.  Pritchardia elliptica joined Pritchardia lanaiensis and Pritchardia insignis merged with Pritchardia hillebrandii. Pritchardia napaliensis has since been added to the list of loulu.

In December, 2007, Don Hodel published his A Review of the Genus Pritchardia as a supplement to the quarterly Palms of the International Palm Society.  Once again, species either disappeared, were absorbed into another species, or were separated out and added to the list as a new species.  Interestingly, the review disclosed that there are still twenty three Pritchardia species (loulu) native to Hawaii.  On Niihau, the endemic P. aylmer-robinsonii was found to be a variety of P. remota.  The endemic on Lanai, P. lanaiensis was found to be P. glabrata, which is also endemic to West Maui.  Pritchardia forbesiana which was formerly thought to be endemic only to West Maui is now found to be also endemic to East Molokai and P. munroi which was thought to be endemic only to East Molokai is now found to be endemic to West Maui as well.  In East Maui, a new species  has been identified as Pritchardia woodii; it was formerly thought to be P. arecina.  On Oahu, Pritchardia kahukuensis which was made part of P. martii in 1980 has now been pulled back out as a separate species and P. macrocarpa which is thought to be only known as cultivated specimens is more appropriately named Pritchardia lowreyana.  On the Big Island, Pritchardia affinis lost its status to Pritchardia maideniana, a name that has appeared in the past.  Pritchardia gordonii is a new species native to the Kohala Mountains also on the Island of Hawaii.   On Kauai, the species P. limahuliensis was found to be identical to P. napaliensis; specimens found at higher elevations are P. perlmanii.

In 2007, the lineup of Hawaiian species of Pritchardia was as follows:

Nihoa:  Pritchardia remota

Kauai:  Pritchardia flynnii, P. hardyi, ~P. limahuliensis, P. minor, P. napaliensis, P. perlmanii, P. viscosa, P. waialealeana

A Stand of Loulu at the edge of the Concrete Jungle, Ala Moana Beach Park, Honolulu.

Hawaii is one of the most isolated landmasses on the planet.  In its isolation a biota high in endemic species evolved.  Hawaii is said to have one of the highest levels of endemism in the world.  The fragile ecosystem that was present at the time did not withstand the onslaught of introduced plants and animals that came with human migration.  Hawaii today is known for its high rate of plant and animal extinction.  The native palms unique to Hawaii rank vulnerable to critically endangered.  In fact, at least two of the species currently cultivated are considered extinct in their native habitats.

Pritchardia arecina at the foot of Piilanihale Heiau, Honomaele, Hana, Maui