Unfortunately many of Hawaii's native plants have disappeared or become rare due to the plants, diseases, and insects that people have brought here and due to human activities on the land. The beach morning glory, pohuehue , is a vine that grows in the sand just above the reach of the waves. The leaves make a green carpet accented with pink bell-shaped flowers that lie close to the ground getting some protection from the wind. The flower adapts to the hot sun and blowing sand by opening its petals only in the cool morning hours. The vine has slender stems called runners.
Roots grow at the joints or nodes of each runner.
So if pieces of the vine are broken off by the sea or wind, new roots can develop at these nodes and take hold in the sand. The roots help to hold sand dunes together and stop the erosion of our beaches. The beach naupaka, naupaka-kahakai, grows wild along many Hawaiian shores. It usually grows close to the ground, but can grow as high as 10 feet. This moisture protects the plant from the intense heat of the sun.