Mimicking the festive garlands that wrap and drape our Kalikimaka trees is the snaking, swirling, scaling of the indigenous ‘ie‘ie (Freycinetia arborea) vine upon our forest woods.
This relative of hala (Pandanus tectorius) is a fragile, densely branched, woody climber. Growth patterns range from a sprawling mesh on the forest floor to skyward through the forest canopy, using aerial roots attached to tree hosts.
Gleaming, green pointed leaves are spiked along the margins and the lower edge of the midrib. Leaves are spirally coiled at branch ends. Stems are about an inch thick. Flowers, either male or female, are clustered at the branch ends as pronged inflorescences.
The fleshy, apricot or dusty-rose bracts and the fruit of ‘ie‘ie were preferred foods of the ‘o‘u (Psittirostra psittacea), our extinct Hawaiian honeycreeper, and our Hawaiian crow, ‘alala (Corvus hawaiiensis), currently extinct in the wild.
Other extinct (I hate that word!) endemic Hawaiian birds in the Drepanididae and Corvidae families were historical pollinators of ‘ie‘ie. Today, the Japanese white-eye (Zosterops japonicus), or mejiro, introduced to Oahu in 1929 and the Big Island in 1937, is a predominant pollinator.
Early Hawaiian culture incorporated ‘ie‘ie as a multifaceted botanical resource. ‘Ie‘ie for kaula or aho (cordage) was steam-softened in an imu oven, then vertically split to enhance pliability. The fiber was masterfully plaited into unrivaled hinai (baskets) of diverse shapes, with intricate, ornamental patterns created by the weaving alignment. The material would firm upon drying.
‘Ie‘ie’s aerial roots and pulverized fiber also provided lashing for hale (house) posts and wa‘a (outrigger canoe), thatching for roofs, and material for weaving hinai ho‘olu‘ulu‘u (fish basket trap), sandals and the intricate, wicker-like foundation for ali‘i mahiole (royal feathered helmet), haka (crested feathered helmet), ahu‘ula (feathered cape) and kahili (feathered standard).
Medicinally, ‘ie‘ie was administered for ‘ea (a childhood disease known as thrush or coated tongue), pa‘ao‘ao (infant weakening disease), piwa (fever) and ho‘omoemoe (sleep aid when suffering chest pains).
‘Ie‘ie branches were the kinolau (a form taken by an ancestral spirit) of the hula goddess Laka and the goddess Laukaieie, sister to Makanikeoe, male god of love. Branches were adorned on the kuahu hula (a raised altar in hula school) to represent these goddesses.
‘Ie‘ie was also sacred to the forest god Ku. During the elaborate ritual of canoe making, a lei of ‘ie‘ie was draped on the severed koa log selected for the canoe.
The Kaieiewaho channel, between Kauai and Oahu, is named after the ‘ie‘ie vine. Laie (shortened from lauie), on the North Shore of Oahu, means "leaf of the ‘ie‘ie."
The primeval growth of an ‘ie‘ie, writhing its serpentine path within a pristine forest landscape, is a cherished vision of hiking in my beloved Hawaii.
Duane Choy is a native Hawaiian plant specialist. Reach him at HanaHou@ecologyfund.net.
