Laua'e or Maile-Scented Fern

Description:

The Laua'e fern is a green plant, sometimes with orange or green seeds. It looks like a smushed or thinned out Christmas tree with lengthy "arms" or so called leaves. It is a fern, but it is not so bushy. If you touch it you would only feel the seeds or spores on the leaf and nothing else, but smooth. Although ferns are hairy feeling, this one is smooth with spores (seeds). It rises from the stem and grows downward. It must travel a long way down to reach the soil. A Laua'e fern can grow up to three feet tall. These ferns are fleshy green, and they have special stems called rhizomes. But they don't bare fruit or flowers.

Habitat:

Usually, these ferns are found in rainforest or moist areas. But they also can be found growing on rocks, trees, or forest ground. They are also found near beaches. This fern was found on Akimala Street, Kaneohe.

Notes:

Laua'e is indigenous to Hawai‘i. Scenting their kappa cloth was why the Hawaiians adopted it. Laua'e is sometimes put together with pieces of the Hala tree used in lei's today.