May 2026 MGOC Garden Tour

We have three Hawaiian palms in our front yard. The two nearest the front door are small, no more than 6 feet. And they are at least 50 years old. Very, very slow growing. The Hawaiian name for all species of endemic Hawaiian palms is Loulu, which I prefer to the Anglicized names. Those English really loved to name plants after themselves!

So we have Pritchardia napaliensis, from which we have had many seeds and seedlings, and Pritchardia minor, which differs from its cousin only by the color of “fur” on the underside of the leaf. Both live in the vicinity of the parking lot looking out over the Kalalau Valley, at the end of Kōkeʻe Road from Waimea Canyon. These trees were grown from seed collected in the 1970’s.

Rats and pigs eat the seed in Hawaii, so there is very little natural propagation. The palms survive in many Hawaiian gardens, and here.

The tallest fan palm on the other side of the front door, standing at about 25 feet, is Pritchardia remota, formerly P. aylmer-robinsonii. It has adapted to dry conditions, and grows in ever-shrinking groves only on Niihau, west of Kaua’i. It is a relic of wetter times on Niihau, which is a very dry island compared to its neighbors.

This palm was grown from a seed collected with permission from the locals. It has not set seed for us yet. It is the only example of this species that we know of in this area. If we set seed, they will go back to Hawaii.