NAUPAKA

One of Hawaii’s most famous legends is built around naupaka, a shrub found in the mountains or near the beach. The flower’s unique appearance—it resembles a half-flower, with petals missing—caused early Hawaiians to believe it was the incarnation of an ancient native separated from her lover.

Naupaka plant

In ancient times, one version goes, there was a beautiful Hawaiian princess known as Naupaka. One day, the villagers noticed that Naupaka looked very sad. They told her parents, who approached Naupaka and asked her what was troubling her.

“I have fallen in love with a man named Kaui,” replied the princess. “But Kaui is not of noble birth—he is a commoner.” According to Hawaiian tradition, it was strictly forbidden for members of royalty to marry people from the common ranks.

Distressed, Naupaka and Kaui traveled long and far, seeking a solution to their dilemma. They climbed up a mountain to see a kahuna who was staying at a heiau (temple). Alas, he had no clear answer for the young lovers. “There is nothing I can do,” he told them, “but you should pray. Pray at this heiau.”

So they did. And as they prayed, rain began to fall. Their hearts torn by sorrow, Naupaka and Kaui embraced for a final time. Then Naupaka took a flower from her ear and tore it in half, giving one half to Kaui. “The gods won’t allow us to be together,” she said. “You go live down by the water, while I will stay up here in the mountains.”

Naupaka flower

As the two lovers separated, the naupaka plants that grew nearby saw how sad they were. The very next day, they began to bloom in only half flowers.

There are different versions of the naupaka legend, but all carry the same unhappy theme: lovers that are separated forever, one banished to the mountains, the other to the beach.

Legends aside, the naupaka (Scaevola sencea) is one of Hawaii’s most common beach plants. There are nine different species of naupaka, which typically grow up to 10 feet tall and six to 15 feet wide. The plant has large leaves with flowers in small clusters. The flowers are typically white with purplish streaks. The fruits are white.

Hawaiian half flower

HONU ALERT: Hawaii Green Sea Turtles

(from Associated Press, June 13, 2009, as printed in West Hawaii Today)

The state’s aquatic biologist on Kauai is calling on people to watch out for honu, or green sea turtles, nesting and hatching on the beach.

A Frequent Visitor to Magic Sands

It’s currently nesting season for the honu, a threatened species protected by state law and the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

People driving trucks on the beach are the greatest threat to turtles nesting in the Wailua area, he said.

“The weight of the truck will compact the sand to a degree that the baby turtles will not be able to dig their way up and out of their sandy nest,” said Don Heacock of the state’s Division of Aquatic Resources.

Heacock was recently at Wailua Beach, trying to establish a perimeter around a honu nest. He could see fresh tire tracks from an off-road vehicle less than a foot away.

Motorists should avoid driving on or over any coastal beach vegetation, particularly beach morning glory, or pohuehue and naupaka, Heacock said. Most green sea turtles nest in these plants.

Heacock was also troubled to find dog tracks, both large and small, crisscrossing the turtle tracks. He saw evidence that one dog had begun digging out a nest created by the honu.

During the nesting season which lasts from about June to September—female green sea turtles come ashore at night when there’s high tide at a full moon.

A turtle will spend the night digging a nest and depositing about 100 eggs before covering the nest with sand and returning to the ocean.

Eggs usually hatch in 59-61 days, depending on the weather, Heacock said.

When the baby honu hatch, they remain in the nest until they sense the col of the night. They then all dig out and upward at the same time, working together to climb to the surface and make a run to the ocean.

Honu

Each clutch of egg is laid about 12-14 days apart in the same general area.

Bright lights and fires are another threat to hatching honu.

Heacock told of an incident when a security guard called him after discovering baby honu in the restrooms at Nukolii on Kauai’s east shore.

“When I got there, I noticed the lights in the bathrooms were on,” Heacock said. “Honu that are hatching on beaches at night are attracted to bright lights or fires, and if these are present when they come out of the sand, they will become confused and might acturally run directly into a bonfire on the beach and may die.”

Heacock shut off the bathroom lights and placed a flashlight in the water to lead the honu hatchlings into the water.

“We want happy fishers and happy campers,” Heacock said. “But we also want happy and healthy honu.”