Coprosma ernodeoides

Description:

Kkaenn, Aiakann or Black-fruited coprosmaRubiaceae (Coffee family)Endemic to the Hawaiian Islands (Maui and Hawaii Island)Haleakal National Park, East MauiAnother viewwww.flickr.com/photos/dweickhoff/4737219130/in/photostream/Pistillate (female) flowers www.flickr.com/photos/dweickhoff/5187992794/in/photolist-...Habitwww.flickr.com/photos/dweickhoff/5187394107/in/photolist-...The thirteen Hawaiian endemic species of Coprosma belong to Rubiaceae or Coffee family and all appear to be common to fairly common in their habitat. Kkaenn is the only black fruited species of Coprosma in the Hawaiian Islands.Early Hawaiians made a yellow dye from the inner bark and the fruits were used to make a dark purple or black dye.The leaves flowers and black fruits were also strung on lei.The genus name Coprosma means "smelling like dung." By coincidence, the Hawaiian name kkaenn literally means "nn dung." This refers not to the smell but to the dung-like appearance of the dark fruits, which do in fact resemble nn droppings (kkae). Nevertheless, nn (Branta sandvicensis), or Hawaiian goose, do eat the fruits as part of their natural diet. So then, one might say that when kkaenn is eaten by nn and they deposit their kkae, kkaenn is spread throughout the nn habitat!Interestingly, another name for Coprosma ernodeoides is aiakann, literally meaning "food of the nn."EtymologyThe generic name is from the Greek kopros, dung, and osme, smell referring to the dung-like or rotten cabbage smell (methanethiol) given off when the leaves of some species are crushed.The specific epithet ernodeoides means resembling Ernodea, a genus of plants in the same family (Rubiaceae) as Coprosma ernodeoides.nativeplants.hawaii.edu/plant/view/Coprosma_ernodeoides