Auwae Orange- A New Hawaiian 'Awa Variety?

[Gourmet Hawaiian Kava]

Hi everyone, I wanted to share a few pictures of a certain Hawaiian 'Awa plant that we are calling "Auwae Orange". This 'Awa came from a master of Hawaiian medicine. His name was "Papa Henry Auwae" Papa Auwae did not call this 'Awa Hiwa, when most people look at it they would say it is Hiwa. The problem here is that Papa Auwae was a master. From the age of five, Henry Auwae learned the art of lā‘au lapaʻau (herbal medicine) from his grandmother, a woman whose knowledge extended back to nineteenth century Hawaii.

So if we take this into account then we can expect it to be a different 'Awa and not Hiwa. We know that Papa Auwae knew Hiwa as well as the other Hawaiian 'Awa varieties so for him not to call this one Hiwa indicates that it is possibly a different Hawaiian variety of 'Awa.
There are only about 2 or 3 people that have this 'Awa and we are letting it grow to maturity and see if we can see any differences from the Hiwa and the Auwae Orange.

Here are a few pictures of what I notice to be different than the Hiwa. The first picture shows some striation on the stalk of the Auwae Orange, the Hiwa does not have this. The second picture shows the stalk that looks to be more reddish or orange than the Hiwa, the Hiwa is a black 'Awa.
I hope you all enjoy the pictures. Aloha.

Chris..

 

[Alia]

Mine are growing similar and certainly agree that Henry Auwae's calling it "Orange 'Awa" has huge significance, given his reputation and knowledge, to differentiate from Hiwa. I think one of my plants goes back to the time of the Wainaku 'Awa Seminar (Dr. Xing and Dr. Baker) that Chris actually videotaped and had once posted on GHK website. So if we can come up with a date and it may be more than 4 years? I'll try making beverage from this 'awa and report.

 

[nickbroken]

Man that is awesome, that plant is beautiful brother.

 

[kastom_lif]

What a gorgeous plant. Thanks, @Gourmet Hawaiian Kava and @Alia preserving this treasure.

 

[NAMBATU]

Did he grow this for medicinal purposes?

 

[Alia]

Very likely since that's all he did as far as I understand-- practice and teach lā‘au lapaʻau

 

[Gourmet Hawaiian Kava]

Mine are growing similar and certainly agree that Henry Auwae's calling it "Orange 'Awa" has huge significance, given his reputation and knowledge, to differentiate from Hiwa. I think one of my plants goes back to the time of the Wainaku 'Awa Seminar (Dr. Xing and Dr. Baker) that Chris actually videotaped and had once posted on GHK website. So if we can come up with a date and it may be more than 4 years? I'll try making beverage from this 'awa and report.

Yes it has been about 4 years now, that was when John C. former president of the largest kava farm in Hawaii let us use the old C Brewer headquarters (now owned my Mr. Olsen) for a meeting with Dr. Xing and Dr. Baker. This meeting was invitation only and there were only a dozen or so kava growers and experts there. I will try to get that video back up on my website soon.
The video is about the research that Dr. Xing has been doing with kava and cancer.
Aloha.

Chris

 

[Gourmet Hawaiian Kava]

Did he grow this for medicinal purposes?

Yes he did, like Alia said. We don't know much about what he used this strain of 'awa for because, sadly he is no longer with us.
I look forward to hearing what @Alia thinks of this 'awa after he tries it. I know, he knows, I will help him harvest it.
Aloha.

Chris

 

[Alia]

Yes he did, like Alia said. We don't know much about what he used this strain of 'awa for because, sadly he is no longer with us.
I look forward to hearing what @Alia thinks of this 'awa after he tries it. I know, he knows, I will help him harvest it.
Aloha.

Chris

Chris-- name the day if you want to share the 20 plus Y.O. Nene right next to the Orange.