'Uki'uki, or Dianella sandwicensis, is an indigenous plant, with long and slender leaves and strikingly colored fruits. In Hawaii, its leaves were used as a material for lashing in house (hale) construction, and a beautiful dye was made from its berries. It's found in a variety of natural habitats from mesic forests, where there is a moderate amount of water, to drier shrub lands, and even wet forests. It can take full sun, or partial shade. Sounds pretty versatile! So if you are thinking about landscaping with more native plants, this might be a good choice. Featured as an accent plant, or functioning as a ground cover, 'Uki'uki will get about a foot and a half tall, and will spread slowly from three to five feet with its rhizomes. Another variety gets about twice that height, and has purplish-brown fruits. |
3 Comments
pamela
4/30/2016 03:20:56 pm
Trying to find out if the purple berries from the Uki Uki plant are poisonous. Have small grandchildren and they may pick them.
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Joel-Marie
7/1/2017 01:46:42 pm
Are the beautiful berries edible? If so what is the nutitional value? Does it have any medicinal uses by ancient Hawaiians?
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Someone
10/13/2022 02:34:30 pm
"The berries don't taste good but they are edible and they turn your whole mouth blue."
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