Attractive tree with dark bark, bright fruit is a native Island species

I love lama! No, not the furry Andean animal, or the spiritual leader of Tibet, but our exquisite, endemic Hawaiian plant.

Lama, or elama (Diospyros sandwicensis), is a small- to medium-sized, slow-growing tree that grows from about 5 feet to 35 feet tall. Habitat for lama extends from dry to intermediately moist forest (infrequently in wet forest), from near sea level to about 4,000 feet. It is an attractive tree, with prominent blackish bark and vibrantly colored fruit. New growth, or liko, in the tree's lush foliage is often pink- or rose-tinted.

Mature leaves are glossy, pale to medium green, and alternately planed in opposite rows, reflecting a flattened, winged appearance. The lama's petite, solitary flowers are unisexual, and emerge from the base of leaf stems. Fruits transform from green, to yellow, to orange or red when ripe. They are edible but rarely sweet.

The heartwood is dense, fine-grained, and rich reddish-brown. The black outer wood, which gleams under a polish, gives lama its English name, Hawaiian ebony. Woodworkers have noted that lama sawdust resembles volcanic sand.

Lama means light and connotes enlightenment. Early Hawaiians used the wood to construct a sacred enclosure known as a palama, where the sick were placed for healing. Inside the halau hula, an uncarved block of lama wood, cloaked in yellow, 'olena-scented kapa, was placed on an altar, or kuahu, to represent the hula goddess Laka. Lama also signified enlightenment discovered through the discipline of dance.

Medicinally, lama was not a primary curative plant, but Hawaiians used it as a secondary ingredient in remedies.

Fresh seeds germinate easily. Remove the fleshy orange fruit pulp, and plant immediately without seed storage. Soaking or scarifying the seeds produce mixed results, so the effort is optional. All seeds should sprout in one to three months. Sow sprouts into a mix of three parts perlite to one part potting mix. Cover with half an inch of mix and water to set.

After a couple of weeks, transplant seedlings. Handle delicately. Seedlings have stiff black roots and pinkish stems. Put into four-inch pots, with well-draining mix, and repot in a few months into larger, deeper tree pots with new soil. Fertilize with 8-8-8, or foliar feed every three to six months.

Outplant after 12 to 18 months into a well-draining site, with full to partial sun. Water initially and later to balance periods of dryness. Provide early plants with support if strong winds prevail. Lama is a slow grower.

Ants and their farmed aphids and scales sometimes nest at the base of plants. Chinese rose beetles do cosmetic damage to the leaves. And watch for twig borers. Use appropriate bait or horticultural oils as necessary.

Highlight your home garden with lama as a unique specimen plant, and enjoy your personal part in perpetuating the magnificent botanical history of our beloved Hawaiian Islands.

Duane Choy is a consultant for nonprofit organizations involved primarily with environmental missions, and is a Hawai'i native-plant specialist. Reach him at hanahou@ecologyfund.net.