Amy Greenwell Garden Ethnobotanical Guide to Native Hawaiian Plants & Polynesian-Introduced Plants

by Noa Kekuewa Lincoln, Peter Van Dyke (Contributor), Brian Kiyabu (Contributor)

In addition to describing the plants and their habitats, this guide relates the significance that native and Polynesian introduced plants had to traditional Hawaiian culture, and tell how these plants are still used today.

Genres: Reference

135 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2009

Reviews

[Spike Gomes]

A wonderful little photographic guide. It's specifically for a botanical garden on the island of Hawaii that specializes in endemic and Polynesian introduced plants, but is of use as a visual guide for the rest of the islands as well. Included is basic scientific information as well as any ethnobotanical uses. I hope someday to visit this garden for a guided tour. I wish Lyons Arboretum on Oahu would produce a guide like this for their own place!
Four out of Five stars.

[Mal]

This is a book with short descriptions but it's jam packed with the best photos of native plants. I liked this one a lot because it has multiple beautiful photos of most of its covered plants - full plant/tree, and then closeups of the leaves, flowers, or seeds. The short bio on Amy Greenwell and her gardens was fascinating too.

[Stella]

This is primarily a tour guide to the plants at the Amy B. H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden in Captain Cook, Hawai'i Island. I had the pleasant experience of visiting the garden, but if not for the availability of this book at the Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park gift shop, I might have passed it by unnoticed. The garden, like the book, is divided into zones: The Coastal Zone, Dry Forest Zone, Polynesian-Introduced Crops, and Wet Forest Zone. The garden is now community owned, and you can visit their website to sign up for events and volunteer opportunities. Do visit if you get the chance!

The book is also an excellent guide to Hawaiian native plants in general, and the urgent need to preserve these unique plants, many of which are endangered and facing extinction. Wherever you are, find out about plants native to that area and what is being done to protect them. Plant natives where you live. We're all in this together!