Hawaiian uses - Sacred to hula goddess Laka. Colorful fruits woven into head leis and boiled for dying kapa. Wood used for house timbers and for making weapons. Medicinally, leaves were crushed and applied to rashes. Description - Variable shrubs or trees, up to 9 m.
Flowers are inconspicuous, in small clusters at branch tips or leaf axis.
Fruit capsules have two or three wings, red, yellow, green or brown in color. Seeds tiny and hard. Leaves shiny green, alternate. Leaves short stemmed, narrow, blunt or pointed. Wood is hard, yellow brown with dark heartwood.