Flora of the Hawaiian Islands
Dicotyledon Literature for Cyrtandra cordifolia
Wagner et al., 1990, 1999.
   Gesneriaceae -- The African Violet Family Bibliography
      Cyrtandra cordifolia

Common name(s): ha`iwale, kanawao ke`oke`o, hahala
General Information
DistributionIn the Hawaiian Islands, endemic to O`ahu.
















Click here for detailed USGS map by Jonathan Price
Habit
Shrubs 1-7 m tall; stems branched.
Leaves
Leaves opposite, borne on upper 3-5 nodes, those of a pair subequal, symmetrical or nearly so, chartaceous, very broadly cordate, 15-45 cm long, (8-)11-22 cm wide, upper surface moderately hirtellous, lower surface densely velvety pilose, the hairs yellowish brown, margins coarsely dentate to occasionally denticulate or serrate-dentate, apex acuminate to acute, petioles 5-20 cm long.
Flowers
Flowers 3-26 in open, compound, umbelliform cymes arising in the leaf axils, densely shaggy villous throughout, peduncles stout, 25-65 mm long, pedicels 4-25 mm long, elongating to 15-35 mm long in fruit, bracts foliaceous, ovate, 10-42 mm long; calyx nearly actinomorphic, whitish to green when fresh, broadly campanulate, often reflexed in fruit, 6-20(-30) mm long, cleft only slightly to ca. 1/2 its length, the lobes deltate to ovate, densely villous to short-villous on both faces, apex caudate to acuminate; corolla white, tube cylindrical, 13-18 mm long, ca. 3-8 mm in diameter, densely villous, upper lobes reniform-orbicular, ca. 4 mm long, ca. 4.5 mm wide, lower lobes reniform-orbicular, 5-7 mm long, 6-10 mm wide; ovary densely to sparsely villous; style 1-5 mm long, villous.
Fruit
Berries white, ovoid, 1-2.5 cm long, densely villous.
Seeds
Seeds 0.4-0.5 mm long.
Chromosomes
2n = 34*