A vine or liana in the passionflower family, banana poka (Passiflora mollissima) was apparently introduced to the island of Hawaii before 1921 when it was observed growing wild at Pu'uwa'awa'a Ranch in the North Kona District. (Local legend has it that someone wanted to hide an outhouse and the vine with the pretty flowers grew fast. It grew so fast, in fact, that it quickly escaped into the wild. Its local name, "poka," means "offal.")
Native to the Andes, the vine was probably brought to Hawaii as an ornamental because of its showy, pink flowers. The dangling tubular pink flowers are about 3 to 4 inches long and 2 to 3 inches wide. They appear during summer and autumn months. Ten petals emerge at right angles to the tube which has a bulbous base. Each flower has a light purplish-blue crown and a long rod extends from the center of the flower with a spray of filaments that bear the reproductive structures.
Banana poka is a fast-growing, evergreen, woody-stemmed tendril climber that can grow up to 15 feet or more. Its softly downy leaves have three deep lobes like most of the passionflower vines. It is a vigorous grower and there are no natural controls for it. They produce a large, elongated, banana-shaped, pulpy fruit that feral mammals (most notably pigs) find tasty. The animals have spread this weed deep into the forests of the Big Island and Kauai. (On the Big Island the fruit-eating kalij pheasant has been actively spreading the plant.)
It is believed that banana poka was planted as an ornamental at most of the sites that currently have heavy infestations, including areas in Kula. On Maui, the relatively small population has undergone dramatic expansion since 1971, but due to efforts from volunteer groups, there is hope that complete eradication may be possible.
This vine is considered extremely detrimental to native forests and can change their structure and species composition. The dense cover of banana poka in forest canopies reduces the sunlight reaching trees and decrease photosynthesis. The heavy loads of vine smother the plants they cover. Branches break and dead trees fall over, opening up the tree canopy and changing the understory conditions drastically, which, in turn, discourages the growth of the more delicate native plants and fosters alien species invasions.
Bird populations of the infested forests may be adversely affected, especially those endangered bird species whose primary habitat is the koa and 'ohi'a forests. (It has been noted, however, that some of the native honeycreepers feed readily on the nectar of the blossoms.)
Dispersal of the plants by alien animals as well as natural perturbations like windstorms and tree-falls make the plant very difficult to control or eradicate. Biological control research has continued.
About a half-mile past the 3 mile marker, on a blind curve, there's the road turnoff that goes down towards Huelo Point. A double row of mailboxes stand like sentinels. It's quiet down the road that goes past the Door of Faith church and heads towards the point that juts out from Maui's rugged north coast between Waipi'o and Hoalua Bays. One guidebook calls it a "rooster town" because often the only thing moving about is "feathered and strutting."
It's hard to believe that at one time, during the 1840's Huelo was a thriving sugar town of several thousand people. The town in the middle of the sugar cane fields supported its own sugar mill. Once the sugar plantation went belly-up, the area was used to grow pineapple. Eventually, that too ended, and most of the workers and their families moved away, following the jobs. Now, there are a few hundred people living on this windswept land. Some of the fancier places used to be vacation rentals and out-of-the-way bed-and-breakfasts.
Through all of the sociological changes, the small 60 by 30 foot simple church built in the New England Congregationalist tradition, has continued to offer services. The church was originally a mission of Po'okela Chuch in Makawao. It was built on the site of an ancient hala grove that apparently dried up when the water was diverted for sugar growing. The church was named for the owls that returned at night to roost in the trees. It was called "Kaulana Pueo" ("famous for owls").
At the time the coral-stone church was built in 1853 by its congregation. In an old interview, Daisy Kalaaupa, the pastor of the old church, told the story of how the congregation built the church to Mary Kawena Pukui. "The people stood in line, there were not trucks at that time, and no car, to bring the stones, and all kinds of things from the beach. Stand in line. It was said there were 200 members of that place at that time….And at the completion, they named it Kaulana-Pueo. The Owl's Haven….Because owls lived there, but the hala grove is dried. So the church then named Kaulana Pueo, but Huelo is that land."
The sixty-by-thirty-foot building in the middle of a putting-green perfect lawn bordered by hog-wire fencing, was built spare and square. The coral used in its construction was painstakingly hauled up one block at a time from a depth of two or three fathoms from Waipi'o Bay. The people stood together in a line and they passed the pieces of coral directly from the sea to the construction site.
The stark interior has straight-backed benches and a platform for the preacher. The walls and windows are plain. Nothing distracts your attention from the preacher's sermon.
There is a pit on the ocean side of the church building that was used to make the lime and mortar to hold the stones together. And later, in 1862, a bell cast in Scranton, Pennsylvania arrived and was installed in the belfry tower.
The small, well-tended graveyard with its bleached white gravestones, is a mute testament to the personal histories of the people of the village that was.
Cut beef steaks into strips and season with salt and pepper in a pot on high, stirring occasionally for 3 minutes.
Add 2 cups of water to the pot, cover and let simmer for 10 minutes.
While waiting, chop all veggies quarterly, into bite-sized chunks.
Add oyster sauce, Kikkoman shoyu and Aloha shoyu to the pot. Stir until sauce is evenly mixed in meat, cover and let simmer for 10 minutes on medium heat.
Add the onions and stir until onions have all broken apart, cover and let the pot simmer for 5 minutes.
Next add the bell peppers, cover the pot and let the mixture cook for 10 minutes.
Now add in your tomatoes chunks and carefully stir mixture until evenly distributed, cover and let sit for 5 minutes.
Lastly, stir your mushrooms into the mixture extra carefully, as to not break them or the tomatoes. Cover and let simmer for the remanding 5 minutes. Carefully stir once then cover and turn off.
