Since I normally post my vegan dishes or juices I make. I thought while in Hawaii i would post some of the natural uses of local plants and legends that i grew up with.

One of my favorite legends growing up was that of the Naupaka. It is said that two lovers, greatly devoted to each other, came to the attention of the Goddess Pele. Pele found the young man desirable and appeared before him as a beautiful stranger. But no matter what Pele did the lovers remained devoted to each other.

Angered, Pele chased the young man into the mountains, throwing molten lava at him. Pele’s sisters witnessed this and to save the young man from a certain death they changed him into the mountain Naupaka. Pele immediately went after the young woman and chased her towards the sea – but again Pele’s sisters stepped in and changed the young lover into beach Naupaka.

The flower grows as a perfect half. If you pick a naupaka from the mountain and a Naupaka from the sea the two halves make a perfect whole flower. The whole flower is not possible if you pick 2 halves from the sea or 2 halves from the mountain. It is said that if the whole flower is formed, the lovers are reunited and will be together again.

The other great thing about the Naupaka leaves is that it is used to prevent goggles and masks from fogging. We use these leaves all the time, it works far better than saliva or anything else in keeping your goggles or masks from fogging.