Wehewehe Wikiwiki Hawaiian language dictionaries

1. n., An endemic woody, branching climber (Freycinetia arborea 🌐) growing luxuriantly in forests at altitudes of about 300 to 600 m. The ringed stems end in tufts of long, narrow, spiny leaves, in the center of which flowers are borne on cylindrical spikes surrounded by leafy bracts, which are orange or green with orange bases.

• Related:
  • ʻIeʻie was one of five plants used on the hula altar (see palai).
  • Also: ʻie.
• References:
  • Neal 54.
  • PNP kiekie.

2. n., A native variety of taro with leaf blades and flowers suggesting ʻieʻie #1; the leaves are dark and glossy, the petioles reddish with yellow-green stripes.

• References:
  • HP 18, 32.

3. vs., High, conceited.

• Related:
  • hōʻieʻie, hoʻoʻieʻie Caus/sim.

Native Hawaiian vine (Freycinetia arborea) growing between the 1,000 and 2,000 foot levels. Its brittle, woody stems are about an inch in diameter. The long aerial roots formerly had many uses: providing material for the famous Hawaiian twined baskets; close fitting coverings around gourds, calabashes, and bottles; fish and shrimp traps; feathered images and helmets. Lāʻīe (shortened form for lau iʻe), the Oahu town, means “leaf of the ʻieʻie.” (NEAL 54.)

Native climbing liana (Freycinetia arborea), a native of Hawaiʻi growing in woods between the 1,000 and 2,000 foot levels. It not only climbs to tree tops but forms a luxuriant, impenetrable cover on the ground. (NEAL 54.) See Plants: Uses.