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Crown Flower

Hawaiian Flora

A glimpse inside

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Crown Flower

“Pua kalaunu” — Queen Liliʻuokalani’s favorite

Crown flower blossoms look like tiny lavender crowns, each with a raised center ringed by five pale petals. Queen Liliʻuokalani loved them, and they have carried a royal association ever since.

The plant is a giant milkweed, which makes it the nursery of the monarch butterfly in Hawaiʻi. Where you find crown flower, you find monarchs circling.

Strung into a lei, the blossoms hold their shape and their soft color for days. It is one of the most patient lei flowers there is — and one of the most generous to the butterflies.