Canoe Plants and Ki | directoryofkauai

by Directory of Kauai

Spiritual protection, purification, and healing power.

Ki (Cordyline fruticosa) grows from sea level in the lower wetlands to 2,000 feet. The leaf cluster is tightly spiraled in a tuft at the top of a ringed stalk. The leaves are pointed, oval, and about 1 to 3 feet long and 3 to 5 inches wide. As new leaves form at the center, the outside older leaves turn yellow and fall, leaving a circular ring on the plant’s stalk. The plant’s flower stalk emerges in winter, maturing into hundreds of small half-inch pale purple flowers, followed by white berries which mature to red. The leaves range in color from green to pale yellow to maroon, and are thick, shiny, flexible, and do not wilt quickly, making them useful for many purposes.

The long leaves of the ti plant were used to make sandals, hula skirts, thatch for houses, and to attract fish on fishing nets (hukilau). Ancient Hawaiians enjoyed sliding down grassy slopes on a cluster of ti leaves (hōlua kī or ho‘ohe‘e kī) with the stalk of the plant pointing forward between the legs and held onto for steering purposes. They also made a ti-leaf whistle (pū lā‘i). Ti leaves were used for wrapping fish, chicken, and pork to be cooked in an imu (underground oven). The root sap was used as an ingredient in paint for canoe hulls as well as for staining surfboards (papa he‘e nalu). A popular use of this plant was making an alcoholic beverage called Okolehao, distilled from fermented leaves and mashed root.

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