Canoe Plants

Canoe plants are those plants brought by Polynesian voyagers to secure their survival and well-being once they reached Hawaii. These canoe plants represented the entire world of the original Hawaiians: their nourishment, their handicrafts, their medicines, and their spirit. Their entire culture came with them in the form of seeds, stalks, tubers, roots, and cuttings.

These are considered to be canoe plants of Hawaiʻi:
`Ape – elephant’s ear – Alocasia macrorrhiza
`Awa – kava – Piper methysticum
`Awapuhi – shampoo ginger – Zingiber zerumbet
Hau – hau – Hibiscus tiliaceus
Ipu – gourd – Lagenaria siceraria
Kalo – taro – Colocasia esculenta
Kamani – ballnut – Calophyllum inophyllum
Ki – ti – Cordyline fruticosa
Ko – sugar cane – Saccharum officinarum
Kou – kou – Cordia subcordata
Kukui – candlenut – Aleurites moluccana
Mai`a – banana – Musa
Milo – portia tree – Thespesia populnea
Niu – coconut – Cocos nucifera
Noni – Indian mulberry – Morinda citrifolia
`Ohe – bamboo – Schizostachyum glaucifolium
`Ohi`a `Ai – mountain apple – Syzygium malaccense
`Olena – turmeric – Curcuma domestica
Olona – olona – Touchardia latifolia
Pia – Polynesian arrowroot – Tacca leontopetaloides
`Uala – sweet potato – Ipomoea batatas
Uhi – yam – Dioscorea alata
`Ulu – breadfruit – Artocarpus altilis
Wauke – paper mulberry – Broussonetia papyrifera

These plants were considered so vital, so sacred, and so flexible in their applications that they brought the future existence of the people with them. These Polynesian seafarers in vovaging canoes managed to carry with them not only food for a 3,000-mile journey, but for the rest of their lives in Hawai‘i, along with their medicine, clothing, handicrafts, and the essence of their religion.