This month I’m participating in a Women’s Permaculture Writing Challenge. Follow along for plant musings.
Aloha, my name is Calotropis Gigantea, but you can call me Hawaiian Crownflower for short, even though I’m not Hawaiian at all actually. I come from Asia mostly, places like Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and India, but also tropical parts of Africa. Humans who have studied me say I can get to be 13 feet tall, but when I’m happy, I can get much bigger than that. I came to be settled quite comfortably in Hawaii hundreds of years ago. A very famous person, a Queen Liliuokalani as I recall, had a particular fondness for my purple flowers shaped like crowns. When Queens like things that makes other people like them too and so I was allowed to stay and proliferate despite my not being “native” to these parts.
Monarch butterflies that do not migrate out of Hawaii came to me to lay their teeny tiny eggs and their caterpillar children munch on my leaves day and night, but I don’t really mind. I’m glad to be of good use, since some humans have used the sap from my branches to poison darts when warring against one another. I didn’t like that. I value peace among all things. Still others have harvested bark or leaves to make teas, tinctures and other remedies. But the most promising thing yet is that I might actually kill cancer cells- only I know that secret and humans are still working out whether it’s really true or not, because I’m not telling just yet.
My life here on this little corner, where sidewalk meets driveway and where one road meets another has been a wild and interesting one for the past 7 years. I came to live here after being picked out from all the rest at a cozy plant nursery. At that time I was just a small one. My roots only filled a small 1 gallon bucket. But the clay soil and the constant attention and kindness has made me grow so large! Sometimes, I do admit, I get a bit overwhelming and out of control. If I had it my way, I would simply take over the entire yard and house. My friend the citrus tree, right next to me, poor thing, sometimes has to reach and reach for sun. Until the humans come and lovingly give me a massive haircut. They have shared many of my branches with others who have come along and they are always so careful to save any caterpillars that are hiding on my leaves. They really do love me. That is why even after a storm blew me completely over, roots out of the ground and everything, I rallied all my strength, reached back into the ground and stood tall again. It was a bit traumatic, but they looked after me everyday and for that I’m grateful.
I’ve seen some things though. Humans are strange creatures to share the planet with. So complicated and confusing sometimes. I’ve seen children cry when they fall out of my branches and I’ve seen the female human become sad when too much of me was removed. She didn’t need to! I grew back extra fast so she wouldn’t cry anymore. It worked! She was happy with my size again in just a weeks time. The small girl at this house especially likes me, and I love her too. She brings her small stuffie animals, hides them in my branches and plays in my shade for many hours. It is a peaceful and loving time.
I enjoy my life here and don’t need much. The soil holds me tight, humans talk to me daily and the butterflies keep coming. After the pandemic I wonder if that nice lady from up the road will come and take all my purple flowers again to make lei? She was nice too and I was sure to sprout more very quickly. In the meantime, I will enjoy these gorgeous breezes, the dozens of mama butterflies and all the stuffed animals that can fit on my branches.
GROW O'ahu 