Are your fan palms invasive or endemic?

Fan palms can be attractive landscape trees when well maintained. The most common fan palm to be found on Maui is the Chinese Fan Palm (Livistona chinensis). Especially prevalent in the wetter windward regions.

Less common is the endemic (found only here) variety in the Pritchardia genus, known in Hawaiian as loulu. These were the only palms that were present before human contact with the islands.

Loulu means umbrella, as the leaves block the rain very well. The fronds were used for roof thatching by early Hawaiians. In the oral legend, it is said that on the north coast of Molokai people would leap off the cliffs at Huelo islet using the loulu leaves as wings. The fruits, called hawane or wahane, were once peeled and eaten. The flavor is like that of young coconut. 

There are more than a dozen different endemic fan palm species, many of which are restricted to small pockets of forest and found only on Maui. These endemic palms are considered critically endangered. The spray of fragrant flowers on the loulu is used as food by the endemic Kamehameha butterfly and other pollinators.

Determining whether you have an invasive Chinese Fan Palm or an endemic Pritchardia requires a careful eye, as they look very similar.  But it comes down to one distinguishing feature: thorns.

The invasive Chinese Fan Palm has thorns along the leaf stalks, and the endemic Pritchardia fan palms do not.

On both the invasive and endemic varieties, the skirt of dead fronds that accumulates also requires regular maintenance. If left to gather, the dead fronds pose a fire hazard, and usually end up providing a place for rodents to breed. Because the fronds of the invasive palm are thorned, it is also an unpleasant litter on the landscape.  For these reasons, the invasive Chinese fan palm is often removed to make way for better things.

If you'd like professional assistance identifying or removing your fan palms or other trees on Maui, schedule a consultation and we would be happy to help.