Family: Apocynaceae

Maile is a fragrant native vine. This is because the entire plant contains the chemical coumarin, which produces a vanilla-like aroma. Maile can put out partially woody vines that can grow up to 10 ft high with up to an 8 ft spread. There are 2, 3, or 4 leaves per node and they have glossy upper surfaces. Leaf shape, size, and particular fragrances vary across forms: haʻi wale (brittle), lau liʻi (small-leaved), lau liʻi liʻi (very small-leaved), lau nui (big-leaved), kaluhea (sweet), and pākaha (blunt-leaved). Flowers are not showy and can range from green, orange, white, to yellow colors. Flowers are pinwheel shaped and typically bloom in fall and winter. Fruiting follows with olive-shaped purple drupes.

Habitat & Uses

Maile grows from 150 to 6500 ft elevation and is relatively common in dry, open canopy, and dense closed canopy wet forests. Although, it is getting more difficult to find due to the high demand for maile lei, a favorite for weddings, graduations, funerals, and proms. Well-established maile can twine their way high into the canopy. Sometimes maile can densely cover vegetation or create thickets as it weaves between other plants. Native birds like the ʻōmaʻo (Myadestes obscurus) eat the fruits, assisting in spread of maile in native forests.

Most people only know maile in a lei, but it was was well utilized throughout Hawaiian culture. Maile was especially used by hula practitioners because it is a kinolau or physical manifestation of Laka, the goddess of hula. Maile was used to make ʻaukuʻu (bird catching tool) by fastening two maile stalks onto a long bamboo pole. The stalks were gummed with lime, which caused birds to get stuck when perched on the maile. The delicate scent of maile was often concentrated in large calabashes with kapa, so clothing and bedding could share the aroma. Medicinally, maile kaluhea (sweet maile) was used to rinse out deep skin wounds and pounded maile was used to treat yellow skin lesions. The attractive qualities of maile are often referenced in mele, hula, moʻolelo, and oli.

Landscaping & Cultivation

Maile can be a challenging native plant for beginners to grow because it is prone to root rot from overwatering. Scales can also be especially problematic. Be sure to control for the ants that farm the scales on your plants. Maile thrives in partial shade, but can also tolerate full sun if the soil is well-draining. Apply small amount of 13-13-13 fertilizer every 6 months. Maile is fairly drought tolerant, but it has no tolerance to salt. Some varieties grow more shrub-like, but others require structure for the vine to climb on. Excellent companion plants for your maile include ʻōhiʻa, koa, lonomea, mānele, pāpala kepau, and hāpuʻu.

Propagation is easy by seeds and more complicated with cuttings. Treated seeds sprout in 2-4 weeks, and initial growth is slow, but increases after 1-2 months. The seedling stage is about 6 months and then it takes 2-3 years to mature. Then, you can begin harvesting from it.

They are one of the few plants grown commercially for lei. The preferred lei varieties are maile lau nui on Hawaiʻi Island, maile lau liʻi on Oʻahu, and maile lau liʻiliʻi on Kauaʻi. Maile lau liʻiliʻi has the smallest leaves and are the more desirable for lei making. On Kauaʻi, maile lei may be garnished with mokihana, another native forest plant that adds additional honor to the recipient. Unfortunately, native forests are often unsustainably stripped of the plant during graduation season due to high demand. There has been some effort in establishing lower elevation nurseries to serve the social need for maile lei.

The most sustainable way to give maile lei is to grow your own maile and make it yourself. To make a maile lei: sustainably harvest young, supple vine then, remove the inner stem to get that fantastic scent. The result is a limp vine that is easy to work with. If you need to collect from the forests, please remember to apply for a DOFAW Forest Reserve System collection permit and practice sustainable picking.

Name Origins

Maile is in the same family (Apocynaceae) as plumeria. The genus Alyxia is from the Greek word for chain because many species in this genus produce fruits in chain like beads on a string. The recent species name change to stellata refers to a Latin word for star-shaped or covered with stars. This could be referring to the small 5-petalled flowers of the maile, which form similar to plumeria. Beware of maile pilau, which is an invasive look-a-like with a stinky odor instead.

Plant Uses:

• Container plant
• Cultural significance
• Fragrant
• Lei flower
• Medicinal
• Privacy / screening
• Specimen

Plant Dangers:

• No dangers