Wauke or paper mulberry is one of the more interesting plants in our forested areas, typically seen as a small tree with a tall trunk, unbranched in the lower part. The plant was cultivated by the Hawaiians for its bark, which was peeled off to be pounded into a cloth called kapa. In cultivation, small low branches were removed early to ensure a sheet of bark absent the branch holes.

The plant does not produce seeds in Hawai‘i and must be propagated from suckers that grow up from the roots, sometimes at considerable distance from the "parent" stem. Once established, the plant persists, generating an ever-widening cluster of small trees. Look about for the distinctive "fig-like" leaves on these juvenile sucker sprouts rising up from the underground root system.