‘Awa ‘Opihikao was the name recently applied to a cultivar found along the ‘Opihikao Ridge on the island of Hawai‘i. Other names sometimes used today for this cultivar are "spotted Hiwa" or "Hiwa pu‘upu‘u." Its growing habit is erect. ‘Opihikao has been known to reach twelve feet and higher. The internodes are very dark and long—up to twenty inches — with many lenticels. To the best of our knowledge, this cultivar was only located in one area of ‘Opihikao and nowhere else. In the late 1990s, AHA President Jerry Konanui discovered the three extremely large plants and took cuttings for propagation and root samples for analysis. Thanks to that action, we now have ‘Opihikao in cultivation.
Very soon afterwards, the abundant ‘awa along the ‘Opihikao Ridge simply disappeared. Included in this patch were numerous Mahakea, Nēnē, and Papa ‘ele‘ele pu‘upu‘u plants, which also are all gone now. The ‘Opihikao roots analyzed for the 1999 Economic Botany paper were from this relict patch. The overall kavalactone level was the lowest of any of the root samples analyzed for that paper: 4.85%. The clones of the original plants have now grown up, and additional analyses have been done. These show kavalactone levels that are more in line with the other Hawaiian varieties. For instance, the lateral roots of a two-year-old plant, which was cultivated in partial sun and fertilized liberally, had a total kavalactone content of 11.76 percent.
Very soon afterwards, the abundant ‘awa along the ‘Opihikao Ridge simply disappeared. Included in this patch were numerous Mahakea, Nēnē, and Papa ‘ele‘ele pu‘upu‘u plants, which also are all gone now. The ‘Opihikao roots analyzed for the 1999 Economic Botany paper were from this relict patch. The overall kavalactone level was the lowest of any of the root samples analyzed for that paper: 4.85%. The clones of the original plants have now grown up, and additional analyses have been done. These show kavalactone levels that are more in line with the other Hawaiian varieties. For instance, the lateral roots of a two-year-old plant, which was cultivated in partial sun and fertilized liberally, had a total kavalactone content of 11.76 percent.