‘Ilima
'Ilima - If you live on Oahu, 'ilima is the flower of Oahu. It is very important in Hawaiian Mythology and Hawaiian culture. The plant appears to grow anywhere on the coast and lower parts of the ridges.
Background Information
'Ilima is a small plant with a golden flower. How can that not be respected? In ancient times, Hawaiians cultivated the plant for lei making ~ it took 1000 ‘ilima flowers to make a single lei. It was also used for medicinal purposes to treat thrush (fungus in mouth), mixed parts of the ‘Ilima plant to treat asthma, flowers used to treat women giving birth
'Ilima
'Ilima can grow as ground cover or a baby shrub. It can grow up to 5 feet in height. The flower is more orange than golden, I used the word golden at the top because I needed draw the reader's interest because this flower should be given its proper respect.
Official Flower of Oahu
Alan Davis 2018
Nimitz Beach 2018
Hawaii Loa Ridge 2018
Sources
Hawaiian Plant Life, 124
Hall, 5