Wehewehe Wikiwiki Hawaiian language dictionaries

1. n., An endemic tree fern (Cibotium splendens, formerly called C. chamissoi), common in many forests of Hawaiʻi, as at Kīlauea Volcano, and now frequently cultivated. These ferns grow about 5 m high, and the trunks are crowned with large, triangular, lacy-looking fronds up to 2.7 m long, their light brown stems rising from a mass of silky, golden pulu (wool). Young stems were formerly used to make hats; the pulu was used as a dressing and to embalm the dead and later as stuffing for pillows and mattresses. The starchy trunk core has been used for cooking and laundry, the outer fibrous part to line or form baskets for plants. Young shoots are called pepeʻe.

• Related:
  • Also: hāpuʻu pulu.
• References:
  • Neal 10.

2. n., Grouper, a fish (Epinephelus quernus).

• Related:
  • The young stage is hāpu ʻupuʻu or ʻāpu ʻupuʻu.
• References:
  • See ʻeheʻula.
  • PPN faapuku.

3. n., Budding.

• Figuratively, child, baby; young, as of squid (rare).

4. n., A variety of taro, also hāpuʻupuʻu, that may be qualified by the colors ʻeleʻele, hāuliuli (favored by planters), kea or keʻokeʻo, lena, and ʻulaʻula.

• References:
  • HP 17, 18, 32.

Child.

Hawaiian tree fern (Cibotum chamissoi), a tree, not a shrub. (NEAL 10.) See Plants: Uses.

Hawaiian tree fern (Cibotium chamissoi), native to Hawaiʻi. On Hawaiʻi island, in association with ʻōhi a lehua, it forms forests in dry or in damp regions, especially in Puna and near Kīlauea Volcano. Some years ago there were an estimated 400,000 acres of tree ferns up to 16 feet high. Its pulu resembles the ʻamaʻu and was used to fill mattresses and pillows. Stems of the young, partly unfurled fronds were used to make hats. These stems were also mealy and fed to hogs. A food, nearly pure starch, was produced from the core of the tree and used during famine or as pig feed. (NEAL 10.)