O Ke Kai – ‘Ohai Flower
$115.00 – $185.00
‘Ohai is a beautiful native and endangered coastal plant in Hawaii and part of our Kahakai Lei collection. In old Hawaii the lovely flowers were be used in lei, but now they are endangered so can’t pick them. Wear these charms as a sustainable option to keep ‘Ohai alive, and share its story to raise awareness!
Choose a chain, and choose your charms, we will assemble the necklace for you. When you buy a chain with charms get 15% off the charms.
Or gift charms, with or without a chain. Mix and match to create a necklace that evolves with you. Charms are easy to put on and take off, change your look to suit your day! Wear larger or smaller designs, group many onto a link or spread them out. Endless possibilities.
‘Ohai
‘‘Ohai is an endemic Hawaiian plant with both coastal and inland varieties. A relative of the pea family, its colors range from cream to orange, yellow and red. This native plant is listed as endangered, but was a popular lei flower of the Hawaiians in old Hawaii when it was more plentiful. The flowers were strung similar to ʻāwikiwiki, māmane, nanea, nuku ʻiʻiwi, and wiliwili.
Beautiful and distictive, ’ohai was once reported from all main islands in Hawaii. Unfortunately, now we only find it scattered and isolated on sandy beaches and a few inland locations. Some researchers consider each of these populations unique due to the variations from site to site. Sadly, in addition to human activities eroding its habitat, ‘ohai is further endangered because it requires pollination by small native bees (about 6mm!) that are themselves threatened by non-native insects like ants and larger bees.
