Hawa or Koolau Range cheesewood PittosporaceaeEndemic to the Hawaiian IslandsOahu (Cultivated)The wood was used in making gunwales for canoes by early Hawaiians. Medicinally, the outer layer of the fruit valves of hawa (Pittosporum spp.) were used. They were pounded and used externally on sores.EtymologyThe generic name Pittosporum is derived from the Greek pittos, pitch, and sporos, seed, in reference to the film of viscid resin covering the black seeds.The specific name glabrum is derived from the Latin glabrous, without hairs, in reference the the leaves of this species generally without fuzz or small hairs.NPH00008nativeplants.hawaii.edu/plant/view/Pittosporum_glabrum