Wehewehe Wikiwiki Hawaiian language dictionaries

1. Reduplication of ʻanapa.

2. n., Hawaiian soap plant (Colubrina asiatica 🌐), a twining shrub, distributed from Africa, India, and Australia to Polynesia, with ovate- to heart-shaped leaves and small round fruits. The leaves form a lather in water and have long been used as soap on Pacific islands. The plant is mistakenly reported to be poisonous.

• Related:
  • Also: kauila ʻānapanapa, kukuku; kolokolo on Niʻihau.
• References:
  • Neal 541.

3. n., Red seaweeds (Gelidium 🌐 spp.); small, stiff, branching, edible plants.

• Related:
  • Also: limu loloa.

1. n., A species of red algae with gelatinous branching fronds—the Gelidium. Same as ekahakaha.

2. n., A species of soap-tree (Colubrina asiatica) the Hawaiian soapbark-tree, whose alkaline inner bark is used for soap: also known as kukuku (Tahitian tutu).

Smooth shrub (Colubrina asiatica). (NEAL 541.) See Plants: Uses. See kukuku.

Smooth shrub (Colubrina asiatica) with twining stems reaching up to 20 feet. Its leaves, which form a lather in the water, have long been used as soap. The plant is also used medicinally and is not poisonous as once supposed. It is mostly found near the coast. Its name means glistening. Also called kukuku. (NEAL 541.)