Canoe Plants and Ohiaai
‘Ohi’a ‘ai was a canoe plant brought to Hawai’i by early Polynesian settlers as one of the few fruit trees available to them. Since its introduction to the Hawaiian Islands ‘Ohi’a ‘ai has grown well in low elevation mesic (moist) forest habitats, particularly in windward valleys at elevations under 1,700 feet.
‘Ohi’a ‘ai (Syzgium malaccense) grows between 15 to 40 feet in height. This tree, commonly called Mountain apple, has a gray, smooth, mottled bark. The leaves are opposite, oblong, about 5 to 12 inches long, and glossy green. After 7 to 8 years, the tree begins to flower and bear fruit. The blossoms have a dazzling hot-pink, star-burst display of hairy filaments which all secrete sweet nectars that attract birds and insects.
The waxy apple-like fruit are thin-skinned, delicate, and crimson-red with splotches of pink and white. They hang all along the branches and trunk, rather than at the ends of twigs, like some other fruit. They are 2 to 3 inches long, oval and slightly bell-shaped. Fruits mature in 60 days from the full opening of the flowers and fall quickly once fully ripe. The fruit is crisp, white, sweet, juicy, and refreshing like pears. Inside are 1 (sometimes 2) large round brown seeds.
The inner bark and root was used by early Hawaiians to produce a reddish brown dye for making patterns on tapa bark cloth, while the wood of the tree was used for house posts and rafters. Both the beautiful blossoms and fruit were used to make leis.
For medicinal purposes, the bark was crushed and its juices taken for sore throat, or mouth infections like thrush (‘ea), and the leaves were crushed and ingested for bronchitis. Juice extracted from the bark was also mashed together with sea salt (pa‘akai) and applied to cuts and skin rashes. Other medicinal uses of ‘Ohi‘a ‘ai by the early Hawaiian settlers included treatments for chest pain, abdominal problems, chills, and asthma. Young leaves from saplings (usually tinged with red) and the bark from mature trees are made into a warm drink to cleanse the mother’s body after giving birth.
Canoe Plants and Ohe
Bamboo was one of the most useful and practical plants for early Hawaiians, providing vessels to store water, irrigation channels, tools, and musical instruments. ‘Ohe is one of the plants brought to Hawai`i by early Polynesian settlers in their voyaging canoes. This vigorous and fertile plant flourishes in warm moist forests, and is able to grow so rapidly that after two months of growth it is the size it will remain for its lifetime.
‘Ohe is the hawaiian word referring to all types of bamboo. ‘Ohe Hawai‘i refers specifically to Schizostachyum glaucifolium. Growing in clumps and small groves, ‘Ohe Hawai‘i may reach a height of around 35 to 45 feet tall, with a base diameter of around 2 to 3 inches, hollow walls, and thick hard nodes joining them. It is found in shady valley habitats, often near streams, at elevations from 200 to 900 feet.
People of ancient Hawai`i used ‘ohe in many ways. They used lengths of ‘ohe with closed ends as water carriers. They hollowed out bamboo tubes and blew air through it to ignite embers into fire (this tool was called ‘ohe puhi ahi). They hollowed out tubes to irrigate their crops, allowing water to flow through these irrigation troughs from the stream into the different levels of the taro pond fields. Knives or cutters (pahi) were fashioned for various purposes including cutting the umbilical cord of a newborn. The leaves, which have rough undersides, were used to polish wooden bowls. A torch was made by boring holes in the side of a section of bamboo and using kukui nuts for fuel. It was used in the making of games like darts and spinning tops (hū) and sleds. Bamboo stamps (‘ohe kapala) were used to apply dye onto their kapa in intricate geometric patterns.
Other uses for the bamboo stems were for building, posts, floats, masts, furniture, utensils, agricultural tools, ladders, and fishing poles. Split bamboo can be made into mats, hats, screens, baskets, fans, brushes, roofing tiles. Musical instruments were made, such as nose flutes (‘ohe hano ihu), split-bamboo rattles (pu`ili), and percussion instruments `ohe ka `eke`eke and pahupahu.
Canoe Plants and Noni
Noni became one of the main healers of the traditional Hawaii medicinal plants as a result of being stowed in the canoes of early Polynesian settlers. It grows well in a dry coastal habitat as well as lowland forests and had many traditional and medicinal uses.
Also known as Indian Mulberry, Noni is a small evergreen shrub or tree that grows 10 to 20 feet high. The leaves are dark green, shiny, short-stemmed, and oval in shape, 8 to 16 inches long and 4 to 10 inches wide. Noni (Morinda citrifolia) has tubular, white flowers less than one inch long with a 5-lobed corolla. The flowers are clustered into rounded heads, which produce warty-looking fruits about 4 inches in diameter. The fruit begins green, turns yellow, and ripens to white, and then falls from the tree. It has a solid, whitish-yellow flesh that is well known for its foul smell as well as its unpleasant taste. The fruit contains oblong, reddish-brown seeds that are attached to small air sacs. These air sacs provide a flotation mechanism that has aided in the plant’s wide dispersal.
Noni was planted by the early Hawaiians for traditional and medicinal uses. The leaves were used as flavoring to wrap fish, meats, and foods during cooking. The fruits were believed to be an appetite and brain stimulant. The wood was used in construction of canoe parts and paddles, axe and adze handles, and digging sticks. A fetid oil obtained from seeds was used as an insect repellent. It was also believed that ghosts were repelled by the odor of the fruit. Noni was also used to create dyes (hili noni) for kapa (tapa). The bark produces a brownish-purplish dye, while a yellow dye can be prepared from the root.
Noni was one of the most significant sources of medicines among the Hawaiian islands. Leaves, fruits, stems, and roots are all used in various medicinal preparations. The fruit of noni was thoroughly pounded and mashed, and then squeezed and strained to extract the sap. The sap of the fruit was also added to various medicinal elixir formulations, including an enema, a scalp insecticide, a poultice for boils, skin problems, deep cuts, and fractures. A drink called ‘aumiki was made with the juice of the noni fruit, and was consumed after drinking ‘awa to counter any negative effects it might produce. The fruit and flowers were consumed as a treatment for bladder and kidney disorders. Noni was also used for chest pain, to sooth aching joints, as a laxative, jaundice, hypertension, urinary ailments, stomach ulcers, and fever.
Canoe Plants and Niu
Niu, or coconut palm, was one of the most useful trees brought to the Hawaiian Islands by the early Polynesian settlers. Its uses included food, drink, thatching, baskets, mats, cordage, clothing, brooms, musical instruments, shampoo, containers, fuel, soap, and medicine.
Niu (Cocos nucifera) were planted at someone’s birth, and would bear fruit around their seventh birthday, providing food for the rest of their lifetime. This tree lives more than 80 years and reaches heights of more than 100 feet with a cluster of leaves at the top. It has a swollen base and a ringed trunk, marking the points of attachment of fallen leaves (fronds). The trunk is very strong and elastic, and is able to bend in heavy winds. The fronds of the coconut palm grow up to 6 feet wide and 20 feet long, with more than 100 leaflets emanating from each side of the leaf’s midrib.
These trees continually produce fruit all year long – up to 50 per year. It is one of the biggest seeds of all trees at 10 to 12 inches long, and takes about nine to ten months to ripen. The shell of an immature coconut is yellowish to orange in color, becoming more grayish as it matures. Within the coconut shell is a thick, fibrous crust encasing the relatively thin but hard inner shell of the nut, with three pores at one end. Lining the inner shell of ripe nuts is the sweet white pulp (coconut meat or flesh), and a sweet, clear liquid (coconut water or milk).
Coconut milk is a good source of iron and contains calcium, phosphorus, protein, and vitamins. One traditional recipe involved wrapping a mixture of shredded coconut and the starch of pia in leaves of ki and baking it in an imu (underground oven) to produce a tasty treat known as haupia. Another imu treat was kūlolo – a pudding-like mix of grated coconut flesh, niu water, ko (sugarcane), and grated taro.
In ancient Hawai‘i, every part of the coconut palm was useful. Niu leaflets were braided into mats and baskets, and were used for thatching. Niu leaves were used as brooms, and also slapped against the water to scare fish into nets. The coconut leaf midrib (nī‘au) was used to string together kukui nuts for lamps, used in making a spinning top (hu), used in making a ti-leaf whistle (pu la‘i), and used as a needle (mānai) to string lei. Coconut oil was used to keep their skin soft, and to provide a temporary clear view beneath the water’s surface. The trunk was used for posts to construct homes, or were dug out to make small canoes or drums (pahu hula). The husk of the coconut was burned as a fuel. The fibers of the coconut husk were used to make strong cordage which did not weaken or deteriorate in salt water. The coconut shell was made into poi bowls, drinking cups, spoons, scrapers, fishhooks, and drums (pūniu).
At the base of the young leaves of the coconut palm is a fibrous sheath. This pliable, fabric-like material was used for squeezing various mashed plant materials, and medicinal concoctions. Niu had medicinal uses – for bad cases of hānō (asthma), and treatment for bladder problems. Coconut water was an alkali producer in the digestive system and therefore helped in the important balancing of pH in the human body. And, a small piece of sweet coconut meat was chewed following the ingestion of disagreeable tasting medicines.
Canoe Plants and Milo
In ancient Hawai`i Milo was a common shade tree planted near sunny coastal areas with sandy soil. It was brought to the islands by Polynesian voyagers who cherished its beautifully grained wood for carving, its bark for twisting ropes, its seeds and leaves for medicinal uses, and the mature tree for protection against wind, salt spray, and hot sun.
Milo (Thespesia populnea) is a member of the Hibiscus family and similar in appearance to Hau. It is a small evergreen tree averaging 20 to 35 ft in height, with a broad, dense crown, making for an ideal shade tree. The bark is grey to dark brown, and its leaves are green, glossy, heart-shaped, and about 4 to 8 inches long. The flowers are a typical hibiscus shape, about 2 to 3 inches in diameter, with yellow overlapping petals and maroon or purple centers. The flowers usually shrivel to a purplish color late in the day. Following the flowering stage, fruits appear that are about 1 inch in diameter, round but flattened, brown, and woody, with five compartments, each of which contains a hairy seed.
Milo has beautiful wood that was used for poi bowls, utensils, and calabashes (`umeke la`au) because it did not impart a flavor to food. The wood is tan to reddish brown to dark brown with a fine texture. Bowls were made using a stone adze and then rubbed with rough lava (‘a‘ā) or coral (‘āko‘ako‘a), and then rubbed with the skin of shark (manō) or stingray (hīhīmanu).
Although Koa was the preferred wood for canoe building, large Milo trees were made into small canoes and paddles. The bark was used for cordage fiber, while various parts of the tree produced tannin, dye, oil, and medicine.
Canoe Plants and Maia
Mai‘a (banana plant) was an essential part of early Pacific island life and brought to Hawaii in the voyaging canoes of Polynesian settlers. In the Hawaiian Islands there are many varieties of this staple food resulting from thousands of years of cultivation. Descendants of the plants continue to grow wild in many moist to wet valleys and mountain slopes at elevations up to 3,000 feet.
Mai’a (Musa paradisiaca) is not really a tree, but a giant herb with a fibrous trunk that rises up from an underground corm and grows from 15 to 30 feet tall. The smooth and shiny leaves are 8 to 12 feet in length and up to 2 feet wide. Soon after emerging, the leaves split along the parallel side veins, giving the leaves a ragged appearance. After the plant matures, a flower cluster comes up through the compressed layers of the leaf sheaths that make up the trunk and form a drooping stem. It takes about a year for the plant to produce mature fruit, and each plant bears 5 to 9 rows (hands) of bananas.
The fruit varies in size, shape, color, quality, and quantity. The skin varies in color from immature green to yellow to orange to red, and the flesh may be white, yellow or shades of pink. For early Hawaiians the mature fruit was an easily digested carbohydrate, while the cooked fruit was boiled or baked in their skins turning into a starch. Bananas were a good source of potassium, vitamin A, B, C, phosphorus, calcium, and iron, but women were forbidden (kapu) from eating bananas except for two varieties (mai`a iho lena and mai`a popo`ula).
Mai`a had many uses in ancient Hawaii. Banana leaves were laid over the hot embers of the imu to protect the food from being burned, while banana trunks were added to create more steam, and more leaves were put on top of everything to hold the heat and steam in. Leaves were also used as food wrappers and covers, and for rain protection on houses and people. Children slid down hills on banana stalks, in imitation of the adult sport of he‘e hōlua (sledding). The cylindrical trunks were used as rollers to aid canoes from the shore to the sea. And leaves were used to signal a truce during war.
Bananas were not only a food source for ancient Hawaiians, but also had medicinal uses. The corm, trunk, and flowers all produced a sap that was used in medicinal formulations for the treatment of hānō (asthma), heartburn, stomach problems, chest pains, and listless babies. Vitamin-rich nectar was pinched from the flower bud for strengthening babies. Boiled ripe banana fruit was mashed and taken for constipation. Pounded peels of ripe bananas were used as a poultice for wounds. And the fruit was used as an offering to the gods.
