On a recent Sunday morning beach stroll, my mother, Marilyn Bornhorst, noticed that the lovely old kiawe on the well-tended lawn and music stage at the Halekulani is still there. "This brings back such fond memories going all the way back to our honeymoon in Waikiki in 1951," she told me. "Can you find out more about this tree? Where is it from? Who planted it?"
I checked with my friend Diane Ako, public relations director at the Halekulani. This kiawe was planted around 1887. There are several versions of the tree’s origins, but one of the more credible comes from a letter in the hotel archives from Florence Hall, born in 1884.
Florence was about 3 years old when her father, William Wisner Hall, planted the kiawe sapling. This was a time when the yard extended 30 feet toward the ocean and the sandy shore was another 25 feet farther.
The perfect frame for a romantic tropical evening, the famous kiawe — or mesquite — tree above the stage at House Without A Key has been a silent witness to countless generations of people who have visited one of Waikiki’s most romantic and picturesque spots.
Kiawe wood is a Hawaii favorite for cooking. Most kiawe in our parks are old trees between 50 and 100-plus years old. They grace Kapiolani Park, the Honolulu Zoo and Hale Koa Hotel.
We should give these "veteran trees" the best arboricultural and landscape maintenance care. This means no or very minimal fertilizer, just enough water, and regular crown thinning and dead-wood pruning by professional arborists.
Sometimes in fertilized, watered lawns, kiawe trees do the "huli maka flip down" and topple over in a windstorm. The tree canopies get too heavy from overuse of cheap nitrogen fertilizer to make the grass around the trees instantly green. The treetops act like sails and the shallow roots lose their grip and the whole tree comes down.
Understanding how trees grow and professionally caring for them can prevent this calamity.
Kiawe, Prosopis pallida, is in the bean family, Fabaceae, and comes from driest Peru. The trees are easy to grow from seeds.
Collect seed pods from thornless kiawe trees. If any produce thorns, discard them. Grow them until they are about 3 feet tall and then plant them in the ground.
Kiawe are very drought-, salt- and wind-tolerant. The trunks grow in a gnarly manner and the bark is attractive. The fine lacy foliage screens views and lets in enough light to grow a nice grass below. The fine leaves make great mulch to grow other things in your coastal or dryland garden.
The long, curved light-yellow bean pods are full of sweet "honey" that is good to munch on. The dried pods can be used to make a nutty-flavored flour and are an ono food for cattle, horses and goats.
Kiawe honey from busy local bees has a distinct flavor. Kiawe blossoms are delicious to our Hawaii bees and help them thrive.
Heidi Leianuenue Bornhorst is a sustainable landscape consultant specializing in native, xeric and edible gardens. Reach her at heidib@hawaii.rr.com.