Puakenikeni (Fagraea berteroana) is an aromatic tropical flower that blooms year-round in Hawaii. Historically known as “ten cent flower,” lei makers would string these beauties on docks back then for just 10 cents each!
Flowers change over their life cycle from white to buttery yellow and eventually light orange. Refrigerator temperatures should never be used to store these fragile blossoms as this will quickly cause them to go black and become waterlogged.
Origin
Puakenikeni flowers (Fagraea berteriana) are beloved icons of Hawaii due to their intoxicating fragrance. Commonly used as lei-making materials to impart this divine aroma directly onto wearers’ bodies, these blooms have also been revered in Tahitian legend as being delivered from Tane’s forest godliness tenth heaven!
Pua Keni Keni leis are often featured at weddings and graduation ceremonies, where their fragrant fragrance is believed to bring happiness, good luck, and eternal love to all involved. Lei makers must be cautious not to damage or bruise the flowers by picking them early in the morning and placing them in watertight containers along with an arrangement of fuchsia or hibiscus leaves for support; stems can easily break if handled too roughly and must also be threaded carefully for easy threading and cutting off any green calyx ends before threading or cutting for display at events such as these events.
Pua kenikeni, native to Northern Australia and the Caroline Islands, has recently been introduced into Hawaii, where it can grow at sea level and up to 3500 feet. Extremely hardy plants that prefer humid tropical lowland forests with wet-mesic forest conditions – make beautiful ground covers when planted properly in their suitable environment.
Fragrance
Puakenikeni is an exquisite flower that produces one of Hawaii’s most heavenly fragrant scents. Commonly referred to as perfume flower tree or fagraea breweriana, this aromatic plant is used in lei making across the islands. The flowers of puakenikeni range from creamy white to golden, yellow, and orange; their stalks attaching directly to branches on this tropical plant are responsible for this incredible fragrance.
Hawaiian fragrant plants boast sweet, long-lasting fragrances reminiscent of tuberose flowers with undertones of pineapple and jasmine scents reminiscent of tuberose blossoms – making this tropical-scented flower an excellent option for lei-making and floral displays.
Floraea Berteroana, native to New Guinea, northern Australia, and the Caroline Islands, is an aromatic tropical flowering tree with lush green limbs that bear fragrant blossoms. During Honolulu docks’ “Steamer Days” of the late 1880s to mid-1900s, when lei makers used this fragrant tropical bloom as part of leis for sale at 10 cents each, its name became legendary, and lei makers used this aromatic tropical plant as part of leis sales at that time.
Whether visiting Hawaii for the first time or calling it home, smelling its fragrant flowers will always remind you of a beautiful experience. Add aromatic Hawaiian plants to your garden today to experience its scents year-round!
Color
People often associate Hawaii with floral lei garlands worn around a person’s neck – the puakenikeni (Fagraea breweriana) flower is one of the most iconic images that come to mind when people imagine Hawaii, often being worn as part of its cultural symbolism and to mark special events such as greetings, weddings, and achievements. Flowers play an integral role in Hawaiian culture as symbols used for greetings, weddings, and accomplishments – the puakenikeni flower being one of its most beloved lei flowers in Hawaii being both used to mark special events like greetings, weddings, and achievements and for celebrating special occasions as greetings or houseplants while making stunning hedges or specimen trees in any garden or landscape design!
The puakenikeni flower hails from Northern Australia and the Caroline Islands but quickly became widely beloved throughout the Pacific thanks to its vibrant, fragrant blooms. Introduced into Hawaii during the 1930s for use as lei-making material during Steamer Days (late 1800’s-mid 1900s), lei makers would string them onto necklaces sold off the docks by lei makers during Steamer Days for locals arriving off ships as lei cost ten cents at that time – hence its nickname of ten cent flower.
Puakenikeni is a tubular, fragrant flower that blooms at the ends of green blunt leaves, delicate and easily damaged. When harvesting for lei making or sewing into leis, they must be handled carefully as their petals easily bruise if not operated carefully during picking or sewing processes. On their first day, they appear creamy white; by their second day, their hue changes to buttery yellow; finally, light orange on day three! A homemade-style lei can be created using all three colors of blooming petals combined into an artistic bouquet!
Care
Puakenikeni flowers are incredibly hardy and fast-growing plants that readily absorb nutrients, so it is wise not to overfertilize. Excessive fertilizing will promote vegetative growth at the expense of flowers. Regular watering should suffice, though extra irrigation may be beneficial; light fertilizers with a 10-30-10 nitrogen ratio or compost such as Opala, Green Wastes, Leaves, or Tree Clippings (such as Opala), can help create healthy soil conditions – cheap chemical fertilizers will only promote more foliage rather than blooms!
This fragrant Hawaiian flower is a trendy lei-stringing flower. It is known as the cent flower in Hawaiian due to the price it sold for when first introduced during the 1930’s. These 7 cm tubular-shaped blooms range in color from creamy white through buttery yellow and orange but are fragile when handled, so they should only be strung with care.
This plant thrives in full sun. It also makes an impressive specimen plant or hedge. Remember not to refrigerate as this will cause its flowers to brown; keeping a lei between damp paper towels in a flat container in a fantastic dark location should do the trick!
