ʻIlima

Sida fallax

Native Indigenous

These tiny, fragile yellow-orange flowers are the official island flower of Oʻahu (since 1923). Lei ʻIlima is prized for its delicate beauty and the patience it takes to gather and string hundreds of flowers. The flower buds are used medicinally to make a  mild, good-tasting laxative. A low-growing form of this plant, also found in our garden, is called ʻIlima papa. ʻIlima is in the Malvaceae or Hibiscus family.