'ena'ena

Pseudognaphalium sandwicensium (Gaudich.) Anderb.

ʻEnaʻena is a perennial herb of the Hawaiian flora, usually around ten to sixty-five centimetres tall. Its simple leaves may alternate along the stem or gather into a basal rosette. The blades are narrow to spoon-shaped, roughly one to six-and-a-half centimetres long, and the dry fruits are cypselae. Bishop Museum, Plants of Hawaiʻi: Pseudognaphalium sandwicensium

Botanical name

Kew accepts Pseudognaphalium sandwicensium in Asteraceae, with four accepted varieties. This profile adopts that broad species treatment and preserves the database’s author-bearing identity. Kew Plants of the World Online: Pseudognaphalium sandwicensium

Recognizing the plant

Plants can stand upright or lie close to the ground, with stems clothed in woolly hairs. Their colour ranges from olive green to grey or white, and they may smell fragrant or resinous. Rounded clusters of tiny flower heads terminate the stems. Each head is only two to three millimetres long and surrounded by overlapping, papery bracts. The brown fruits are less than a millimetre long. National Tropical Botanical Garden: Pseudognaphalium sandwicensium

Native range

The species is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. Its habitats extend from dry coastal sand dunes near sea level to inland cinder and lava landscapes at about 3,000 metres. This broad elevation range makes it a plant of both shorelines and volcanic uplands. National Tropical Botanical Garden: Pseudognaphalium sandwicensium

Botanical sources

Reviewed 2026-10-11. Seasonal development varies with location and growing conditions.