Kahanu Garden

Kahanu Garden and Preserve is a botanical garden located on the Hana Highway (close to the 31-mile or 50-kilometre marker) near Hana, Maui, Hawaii. It is one of five gardens of the non-profit National Tropical Botanical Garden, the others being McBryde, Allerton, and Limahuli Garden and Preserve on Kauaʻi, and The Kampong in Florida.[1]

Kahanu Garden Maui, Hawaii

The garden was established in 1972 on Maui's northern coast, with rugged black lava seascapes, and is surrounded by one of Hawaiʻi's last undisturbed hala (Pandanus tectorius) forests.

The garden's ethnobotanical collections focus on plants traditionally used by Pacific Island people. It includes the world's largest breadfruit collection, first established in the 1970s. Today the garden contains accessions of approximately 150 varieties of breadfruit collected from field expeditions to over 17 Pacific island groups in Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia, as well as Indonesia, the Philippines, and the Seychelles. This collection is used for research and conservation by NTBG's Breadfruit Institute.

Other garden holdings include bamboo, banana, calabash, coconut, kava, kamani (Calophyllum inophyllum), loʻulu (Pritchardia arecina), sugarcane, taro, turmeric, vanilla, and bitter yam (Dioscorea bulbifera).

Kahanu Garden is open to visitors. An admission fee is charged.[2]

Piʻilanihale Heiau
Piʻilanihale Heiau
Sketch of the heiau
Kahanu Garden is located in Hawaii
Kahanu Garden
Nearest cityHāna, Hawaiʻi
Coordinates20°47′57″N 156°2′18″W
Area3 acres (12,000 m2)
NRHP reference No.66000300
HRHP No.50-50-13-00100[3]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPOctober 15, 1966[4]
Designated NHLJanuary 29, 1964[5]
Designated HRHPOctober 15, 1966

Kahanu Garden also contains the 3-acre (12,000 m2) Piʻilanihale Heiau, a National Historic Landmark believed to be the largest ancient temple in the Hawaiian Islands. It is built from basalt blocks and extends 341 feet (104 m) by 415 feet (126 m), with a high front wall rising 50 feet (15 m). The large central terrace with two separate platforms is situated on a broad ridge that adds to its majesty. The side facing the sea rises steeply in five stepped terraces, and the upper rectangular surface of the main platform contains several smaller walled enclosures and pits, all bounded on the rear by a well-built stone wall up to 8 feet (2.4 m) high.[6]

Construction of the main terrace dates back to the 14th century. Wings were later added and rededicated during the 16th century, possibly after high chief Piʻilani from western Maui conquered the beautiful, fertile, well-watered, and heavily populated Hāna region, thereby unifying the whole island.[6]

  • gardens below heiau
    gardens below heiau
  • ocean side of heiau wall
    ocean side of heiau wall
  • closer view of heiau wall
    closer view of heiau wall
  • canoe house enclosure
    canoe house enclosure
  • thatched canoe house
    thatched canoe house
  • outrigger canoe in canoe house
    outrigger canoe in canoe house
  • Hale Hoʻokipa ('Welcome House')
    Hale Hoʻokipa ('Welcome House')
  • whetstone near Hale Hoʻokipa
    whetstone near Hale Hoʻokipa
  • Piʻilanihale Heiau in Kahuna garden, Maui Hawaii
    Piʻilanihale Heiau in Kahuna garden, Maui Hawaii

See also

References
  1. "Our Gardens - National Tropical Botanical Garden". Retrieved April 8, 2010.
  2. "Tour the Garden - National Tropical Botanical Garden: Kahanu Garden". Retrieved April 8, 2010.
  3. "Historic Register Counts". Hawai'i State Historic Preservation Division. State of Hawaii. February 1, 2022. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  4. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  5. "Piilanihale Heiau". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on May 11, 2011. Retrieved July 4, 2008.
  6. Kirch, Patrick Vinton (1996). "Piʻilanihale Heiau". Legacy of the Landscape: An Illustrated Guide to Hawaiian Archaeological Sites. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. pp. 72–74. ISBN 0-8248-1739-7.
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