Wehewehe Wikiwiki Hawaiian language dictionaries

1. vs., Thorny.

• Examples:
  • Lei kākalaioa, crown of thorns [as worn by Christ].
• Related:
  • Kū kākalaioa, filled with thorns, wild, rude; to rage.
• References:
  • Kin. 3.18.

2. n., Gray nickers (Caesalpinia major, misidentified locally as C. crista), a straggly bramble, a pantropical vine indigenous to Hawaiʻi, with thorny branches and leaf stems and with small yellow flowers. Within each large spiny pod are two or three gray marble-like seeds, which are used for leis, also powdered for medicine.

• Related:
  • Also: hihikolo.
• References:
  • Neal 433.

3. n., Yellow nickers (Caesalpinia bonduc), today commonly called Hawaiian pearls, similar to the gray nickers, but with yellowish-gray instead of gray seeds.

• Related:
  • Also: hihikolo.
• References:
  • Neal 433–4.
  • See kinikini #3.

Gray nickers (Caesalpinia major), a large, weedy bramble that climbs. Its name, kākalaioa, means “prickly.” Hawaiians string the seeds in leis, and children play with them as marbles. Powdered seeds supply a strong purgative. (NEAL 433.)

Gray nickers (Caesalpinia major), a large, weedy bramble that climbs and straggles in dry lowlands of Hawaiʻi. The word means prickly. (NEAL 433.) See Plants: Uses.