The Christmas season embraces mistletoe in movies (it's the "safe" word in the holiday release "Four Christmases"), videos, stage, television, books, newspapers, magazines and that classic tune concerning who mommy was kissing.

I remember a crazy college friend who would dress for Christmas parties in a red and green velvet hat with mistletoe dangling in the front, hoping for girls with yuletide cheer to fulfill that timeless tradition of a kiss under the mistletoe.

Our beloved Islands have their own native Hawaiian mistletoe. Distributed through the landscape are six endemic and indigenous members of the genus Korthalsella, under the mistletoe family of Viscaceae. Their local name is hulumoa ("chicken feathers") or sometimes kaumahana ("warm perch").

Hulumoa grows in habitats that range from dry areas to wet forests and bogs. The plants are easily recognized because of their bizarre growth pattern. They feature flattened or circular stems and joints teeming with smaller branches at the top. The subtle pairs of scale-like leaves emerge from the internodes, as do petite flower bundles and pear-shaped fruits. The diminutive fruits contain a singular flat seed that is eruptively ejected when mature. The evergreen, hemi-parasitic subshrubs possess unique roots that penetrate into the tissues of host plants for nutrients.

The Hawaiian mistletoes live a conflicted Jekyll/Hyde existence. They leech off a host plant for partial nourishment, but they are also an integral component of our natural ecosystem, furnishing sustenance and shelter for other living organisms.

As an avid hiker, I have seen hulumoa growing most abundantly on native Hawaiian hardwoods like koa (Acacia koa), 'ohi'a (Metrosideros polymorpha) and lama (Diospyros sandwicensis), as well as on various eucalyptuses. Their botanical characteristics mimic aerial succulents perched on tree branches. Hulumoa provides eclectic diversity to the forest face, and makes me think of Christmas.

Mele Kalikimaka to everyone, with my holiday wish grounded in Proverb 2437, of the landmark book, " 'Olelo No'eau," by Mary Kawena Pukui: "O ka pono ke hana 'ia a iho mai na lani." In English: "Continue to do good until the heavens come down to you." (Blessings come to those who persist in doing good.)

Duane Choy is a consultant for nonprofit organizations involved primarily with environmental missions, and is a Hawai'i native-plant specialist. Reach him at hanahou@ecologyfund.net.