Wehewehe Wikiwiki Hawaiian language dictionaries

n., A native shrub (Touchardia latifolia 🌐), with large, ovate, fine-toothed leaves, related to the māmaki. Formerly the bark was valued highly as the source of a strong, durable fiber for fishing nets, for nets (kōkō) to carry containers, and as a base for ti-leaf raincoats and feather capes.

• Examples:
  • Cord of ʻolonā fiber; flax (Sol. 31.13), hemp, linen; muscle ligament, sinew (Kol. 2.19).
  • Olonā i hilo ʻia (Puk. 28.15), fine twirled linen.
• References:
  • See ōpuhe and ex., kaekae #1.
  • Neal 319–20, Kam. 76:44–7, 52–5.

Forest shrub (Touchardia latifolia). Bark used for cordage. “Best cordage of all in Hawaiʻi.” (RA.)

Ligament, muscle, sinew, tendon, hamstring. (Kol. 2:19.)

Native shrub (Touchardia latifolia). (NEAL 319.) See Plants: Uses.

Native shrub (Touchardia latifolia) related to the māmaki in the nettle family. Six-foot strips of bark were soaked in water for many days, the long fibers removed, bleached in the sun, and then braided into cord, rope, or even cable in a desired diameter. This was the famous olonā—strong, long wearing, no kinks. It was used for binding needs, fishnets, container nets, as a woven base for feather capes and helmets and ti-leaf coats, as rope for rigging on ships and cable to move canoes. Even the fiber thread was used to sew body incisions after embalming. Another use was in a swinging bed of sennit mesh, ʻahamaka (hammock). (NEAL 319.)