Pau Hana in the Hawaiian language means 'after work', once a thriving Inn and currently now an outpatient health care facility. Exceptional Tree, of which there are over 1000 in the State of Hawaii and 6 on Molokai, is a designation authorized by the Hawaiian State Legislature in 1975 and is given to a single tree, a row of trees, or a grove of trees by the County Arborist Committee. They are trees worthy of being preserved because they are old, rare, and/or due to location, size, aesthetic quality, endemic status or historical and cultural significance. These designated trees must be protected from injury or destruction.
This large Banyan tree is one of 755 species of ficus trees and of a rare variety, most likely the ficus religiosa. As with all Banyan trees, it is actually a fig tree, bearing fruit (not tasty) that can be heard falling onto the roof of the old Pau Hana building. The first Banyan tree was brought to the continental United States by Thomas Edison to Fort Meyers, Florida.
This exceptional tree is over 100 years old, has a canopy spread of 135 feet, a diameter of 216 inches, and is 60 feet tall. It has heard and witnessed over a century of concerts, music, dances, parties, dinners and certainly holds many secrets.