Pua Hau Photograph by Heidi Fickinger
n. A lowland tree (Hibiscus tiliaceus), found in many warm countries, some spreading horizontally over the ground forming impenetrable thickets, and some trained on trellises. The leaves are rounded and heart-shaped, the flowers cup-shaped, with five large petals that change through the day from yellow to dull-red. Formerly the light, tough wood served for outriggers of canoes, the bast for rope, the sap and flowers for medicine. (Neal 559–60.) Of the two varieties of hau, a rare erect one (hau oheohe) was grown for its bast and a creeping one (hau) was planted for wind-breaks. (HP 196.) (wehewehe.org)
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