Canoe Plants and Ulu

‘Ulu was one of the plants considered important enough to the Polynesian settlers to have stowed in their voyaging canoes. And once in Hawaii, ‘Ulu became one of the most useful trees for early Hawaiians, as they ate it, made medicine with it, fed their animals, and carved with it. The trees are usually found at elevations lower than 1000 feet, and finding a grove of these trees usually signifies an area of ancient settlement.

‘Ulu (Artocarpus altilis) is an evergreen tree that grows to heights of 40 to 70 feet, and branches that reach out to a span of 30 to 60 feet. The leaves are a glossy, deep green, deeply lobed, and one to three feet long. Both male and female flowers occur separately on the same tree. The male flower consists of hundreds of tiny flowers clustered to about one inch in diameter and eight inches long at the branch tips. Female inflorescences consist of 1500–2000 reduced flowers attached to a spongy core. The flowers fuse together and develop into the fleshy, edible portion of the fruit. Fruits are variable in shape, size, and surface texture, which varies from smoothly to slightly bumpy or spiny.

The ‘Ulu begins bearing fruit in 3 to 5 years, and is a high carbohydrate vegetable, that is a nutritious source of calcium, vitamins A and B, and no fat. A breadfruit pudding treat known as piele ‘ulu was made by mashing the flesh of the fruit with cream of coconut (nui) and then wrapping the mixture in leaves of ki, and baking it in an underground oven (imu).

In ancient Hawai’i it had many uses. The light wood of the breadfruit tree was carved into small canoes, surfboards (papa he‘e nalu), poi-pounding boards (papa ku‘i ‘ai), and drums. The inflorescence were used as a fine sandpaper to polish wooden bowls. The male flower produced a yellow to brown dye used for decorating kapa. All parts of the breadfruit tree exude a sticky sap which was used as a caulk for the seams of canoes, and a glue to hold together the ipu of the double-ground drum (ipu pa‘i). Breadfruit sap was also smeared on branches to catch brightly-colored birds sought for their plumage used to make various items of Hawaiian featherwork like royal capes and cloaks (‘ahu ‘ula) and other symbols of chiefly rank. The sap was also be used as a chewing gum, and to treat wounds and skin rashes as well as infected sores. An immature fruit was used in the bowling game of ‘ulu maika, where two sticks were placed some distance apart, and the round fruit was rolled along the ground in an attempt to have it roll between the two sticks.