Hilo Daily Image

 

 

 

 

This hapu'u is going to a new home today. It's large and old and falling over and has blocked passage around one corner of the house. It's going to Papaikou. Hapu'u are tolerant of being moved. I'm pretty sure that its journey will be harder for the human beings than for it. I'd estimate that it weighs two or three hundred pounds, and it's about 7 or 8 feet long.

 

Three guys and a truck -- I hope that's enough. As you can see, I've already clipped some of its fronds, but new ones will grow quickly enough.

 

Here's an image of the trunk. It's a bit of a "nurse log," although it's not really a log. A lot of plants are very happy to live on hapu'u.

 

Note added 2015 04 29 -- yes, it was as difficult as I feared. Its base was so large and heavy that three guys could not lift the entire hapu'u. I had to go get the chainsaw and cut off the big horizontal base. Hapu'u doesn't much worry about being cut up, and so the old base is set into the ground and will do its thing, and the top is also set in and will do its thing about 15' away. I hope they have happy lives out on the Hamakua Coast.