Tuesday is Valentine’s Day. The color pink symbolizes love and is romantically intertwined with this holiday.
"Akala" is the Hawaiian word for pink and also the name for our endemic Hawaiian raspberry, Rubus hawaiiensis, also known as akalakala or kala.
In Hawaii, akala has abandoned its characteristic sharp spines. This botanical defense mechanism was historically unnecessary to impede the predation of herbivores. Akala still has thorns, but they are diminished, exhibiting delicate yellow-to-reddish prickles.
Today, introduced feral ungulates such as cattle, sheep and goats devastate wild akala populations.
Akala is an upright shrub standing 5 to 15 feet tall. The three-part leaves are serrated on the edges and covered in a fine coat of hairs. The five-petaled flowers are dark princess-pink with abundant stamens. Blooming is usually from April to July. The large, luscious, hair-tinged fruit is ruby red to dark purple, and occasionally yellowish-orange. Tan-colored seeds are petite.
During the 1930s akala was researched for potential commercial production. Unfortunately, hybrid crossings with mainland cultivars resulted in fruits tasting tart and bitter.
The burnt ash of akala was utilized medicinally by Hawaiians. The akala plant and an entire tobacco leaf were separately scorched to ashes. The two ashes were then thoroughly mixed in a container of water warmed by the sun. This mixture was rubbed onto the head to treat scaly scalp.
Akala ash was also a component for treating umauma naha — "the burning effect in the chest."
To alleviate and control vomiting, a tablespoon of the akala ashes was put into an equal portion of either poi or potato. The mixture was then consumed, followed by chewing two small lumps of Hawaiian salt and drinking a glass of water.
Isabella Aiona Abbott, in "La‘au Hawai‘i: Traditional Hawaiian Uses of Plants," writes that three colors used in post-contact kapa are unique to Hawaii, and one of them is a "rose shade obtained … from the juice of akala."
The pioneering study "The Variety and Nutritional Value of Foods Consumed by Hawaiian Crow Nestlings, an Endangered Species," by Howard F. Sakai and James R. Carpenter, recommended, "based on our estimates of nutritional content of known fruits eaten by nestlings," that akala be among the native plants that should "always be an integral part of the managed forest ecosystem."
Akala flowers are also a food source for native nectivore birds, such as our adorable, endangered iiwi.
For humans, luscious, chocolate-dipped akala berries would be the ultimate Hawaii Valentine ambrosia.
Duane Choy is a native Hawaiian plant specialist. Reach him at HanaHou@ecologyfund.net.
