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Red Lehua-Iliahi Lei
Posted: May 31, 2008
I was thrilled to arrange with Brian Choy to make an authentic lehua-iliahi lei made only with flowers, leaves, and ferns available to the Hawaiians prior to western contact. Iliahi is the native sandalwood tree which produces clusters of cute little flowers.
Brian Choy is an extraordinary lei-maker, flower-arranger, landscaper, and all-around artist. Since the 1970’s his leis have consistently won or placed at the May Day Lei Contest sponsored by the City & County of Honolulu. I previously photographed some of his red lehua leis, yellow and orange lehua leis, and kukui leis.
Since sandalwood trees are no longer plentiful, we agreed he would make a short 12 inch lei segment to minimize the amount of material we would take from the native forests. The photographs would be close-ups to highlight the artistic arrangement of material and the fine level of craftsmanship. It was with great enthusiasm that I hiked above Pearl City and Aiea to look for sandalwood trees in bloom.
The heart wood of the sandalwood tree (Santalum spp.) is known for its sweet fragrance. When the Hawaiian Islands were discovered by the West, sandalwood forests once covered the mountains and became Hawaii’s first commodity to be traded on a large scale. So important was the sandalwood trade between Hawaii and China in the late 18th and early 19th century that the Chinese called Hawaii “Tahn Heung Sahn”, or “Sandalwood Mountains”. Unfortunately, the harvesting of sandalwood was indiscriminate and Hawaii’s iliahi forests were decimated in little more than 50 years causing the sandalwood trade to collapse.
There are several endemic species of sandalwood in Hawaii — many of them grow in dry forests and are slow-growing trees. While only one Hawaiian sandalwood species is endangered today, sandalwood is no longer plentiful in the forests. On Oahu, the most common species in the mountains is Santalum freycinetianum. Their young leaves are reddish-pink in color when they first sprout.
The flower buds of Santalum freycinetianum are also reddish-pink in color. When the buds open, the flowers are a quarter inch across and are reddish-pink on the outside and white on the inside.
Brian Choy made this authentic lehua-iliahi lei entirely with native plant material available to the Hawaiians before western contact. It is made with: (1) red lehua flowers, (2) white iliahi flowers, (3) reddish-pink iliahi flower buds, (4) green iliahi leaves, and (5) green palapalai ferns.
Many thanks to Brian Choy for making this stunning red lehua-iliahi lei and allowing me to photograph it.
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REFERENCES:
Honolulu Advertiser, April 14, 2006
Species Profile for Pacific Island Agroforestry, April 2006