Charpentiera

Charpentiera is a flowering plant genus in the family Amaranthaceae. It consists of five species endemic to Hawaiʻi, where they are known as pāpala, and one species found only on the island of Tubuai in the Austral Islands. All species are trees, some reaching more than 10 metres (33 ft) in height. The genus is named for Arsène Charpentier (1781-1818), professor of pharmacy at Antwerp from 1810 to 1814 and at Cherbourg from 1814 to 1816.^[5][6]

Charpentiera
Charpentiera obovata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Amaranthaceae
Subfamily:	Amaranthoideae
Genus:	Charpentiera Gaudich.
Species
Charpentiera australis[1] Charpentiera densiflora[2] Charpentiera elliptica[2] Charpentiera obovata[3] Charpentiera ovata[2] Charpentiera tomentosa[4]

Species

• Charpentiera australis Sohmer (Rarotonga in the Cook Islands and Tubuai and Raivavae in the Tubuai Islands)^[7]
• Charpentiera densiflora Sohmer (Kauaʻi)^[8]
• Charpentiera elliptica (Hillebr.) A.Heller (Kauaʻi)^[8]
• Charpentiera obovata Gaudich. (main islands of Hawaiʻi)^[8][9]
• Charpentiera ovata Gaudich. (Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Maui, island of Hawaiʻi)^[8]
• Charpentiera tomentosa Sohmer
  • Charpentiera tomentosa var. maakuaensis (Oʻahu)^[4]
  • Charpentiera tomentosa var. tomentosa (Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, Maui, island of Hawaiʻi)^[4]

Uses

Native Hawaiians on the northwest coast of the island of Kauaʻi used lightweight pāpala branches in the art of ʻōahi. Branches were ignited and tossed off of high sea cliffs, where they were buoyed by ridge lifts and burned like fireworks.^[10]

References

1. Mueller-Dombois, Dieter; Francis Raymond Fosberg (1998). "Chapter VII. Eastern Polynesia". Vegetation of the Tropical Pacific Islands. Springer. p. 405. ISBN 978-0-387-98313-4.
2. "PLANTS Profile for Charpentiera (papala)". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture.
3. "Charpentiera obovata". Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk. Archived from the original on 2012-08-03. Retrieved 2009-01-30.
4. "Charpentiera tomentosa Sohmer". The PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 2009-03-24.
5. Gaudichaud-Beaupré, Charles. (1826)in Freycinet Voyage autour du monde, Botanique 444
6. Léonard, Jacques. (1967) Les Officiers de santé de la Marine Française de 1814 à 1835.
7. Charpentiera australis Sohmer. Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
8. "papala". Hawaiian Ethnobotany Online Database. Bernice P. Bishop Museum. Archived from the original on 2007-07-02. Retrieved 2009-03-24.
9. Little Jr., Elbert L.; Roger G. Skolmen (1989). "Pāpala" (PDF). United States Forest Service.^{[permanent dead link]}
10. Medeiros, A. C.; C.F. Davenport; C.G. Chimera (1998). "Auwahi: Ethnobotany of a Hawaiian Dryland Forest" (PDF). Cooperative National Park Resources Studies Unit, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. pp. 39–40. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 29, 2007. Retrieved 2009-03-24.