Our native Hawaiian plant ko'oko'olau, aka koko'olau or ko'olau, offers golden highlights for your home garden and a health tonic for your constitution.

Hawai'i has 19 endemic species of ko'oko'olau in the genus Bidens. Related to the sunflower family, this erect perennial or annual herb is extremely adaptable, growing in a wide range of habitats including coastal bluffs and cliffs, lithified sand dunes, shrubland, summit ridges, mesic forests, subalpine woodland and wet forest bogs.

Generally, ko'oko'olau is a multibranched bush or shrub, with woody stems supporting slender green branches, each with pairs of oppositely arranged leaves. The pointed oval leaves are thin and smooth, with a serrated margin. The flower heads (capitula) beam with five or more radiant yellow petals (ray florets). The closed fruits (achenes) are dry and dark brown or black.

Hawaiians used the leaves of ko'oko'olau for a revitalizing tea to bolster those distressed by general debility. Leaves were also added to the diets of expectant mothers. Ko'oko'olau was also applied in douches to help women who had endured several miscarriages. Flowers were used to stimulate appetite. Blossoms were fashioned into vivid lei ko'oko'olau. The chant "Hole Waimea" related to lei ko'oko'olau as a "travel wreath," imagining travelers in the Waimea district having ready access to the flowers for lei creation.

Ko'oko'olau is easy to grow. Clean dry seeds from debris and surface sow in a three-part perlite to one-part potting soil mix. Water the seeds after planting, and then every other day. Locate in a shaded area. When four true leaves emerge, transplant into 4-inch pots, and after two weeks in the shade, relocate to partial shade to full sun. Outplant in four to six months, to a filtered or full sun, well-draining site away from strong wind.

Treat pests like red spider mites with horticultural oil. Use bait and appropriate controls for ants, mealybugs and scales. Do not use any leaves treated for pests for tea brewing.

Ko'oko'olau presents great potential as a potted patio plant or as a charming bloomer in your landscape. Pinch it back — fresh leaves brew tastier and healthier tea than dried — for profuse flowering and compact, dense growth. Ko'oko'olau is not long-lived, so replant systematically for a constant presence.

Okole maluna, or bottoms up, to a cup of ko'oko'olau tea. Start, or end, your day in a Hawaiian way.