Common name: portia tree Hawaiian name: milo Scientific name: thespsia populnea Native status: indigenous

Description: Milo is a member of the hibiscus family. This tree grows forty feet tall with a trunk about two feet in diameter family. Milo has leaves shaped like hearts.They have yellow petals and a purple center. During the day the flowers wither and turns purplish pink.

Uses: Milo is popular because it gives shade. Its wood gives no unpleasant taste to food, so the Hawaiians also made calabashes and plates form milo. These plates showed the beauty of the milo wood grain.

Interesting Facts The inside of the bark of the tree gave them fiber and cordage.

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