Native Plants of Hawai‘i - Freycinetia arborea

Freycinetia arborea

Pandanaceae or Screw pine family

Synonyms: Freycinetia arnottii, Freycinetia hivaoaensis, Freycinetia longispicata, Freycinetia monticola

ʻIeʻie

ʻIe

Natural Range & Environment

Indigenous on Niʻihau, Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, Maui, and Hawaiʻi Island 300-1,500 m (985-4,920 ft) in mesic to wet forest, often on exposed ridges and slopes with the stems creeping and rooting or ascending on tree trunks, and sometimes on rocks or sprawling on the ground. Also in the Marquesas Islands (Hiva Oa, Nuku Hiva), Society Islands (Moorea), Austral Islands (Rapa Iti), Cook Islands (Rarotonga), New Caledonia, and a single unsubstantiated record from Samoa (Saviʻi) [Wagner et al. 1990].

ʻIeʻie naturally grows as a terrestrial liana on native and non-native trees in the Hawaiian Islands in open, exposed sites or closed forest canopies. Small plant, a foot tall and wide, ready to be planted out next to a tree to climb up or a large shrub to scramble over. Here in a plant nursery, ʻieʻie is growing with other natives.

Description

ʻIeʻie are woody climbers ascending trees or rocks, or sometimes sprawling on the ground. The ringed stems, called lianas, can grow to nearly 18 m (ca. 60 ft) with a spread of 4.5 m (15+ ft) or more. Aerial roots form along the stem and are used to attach to a host. The narrow pale-green leaves, about an inch or so wide, have tiny serrations along the edges and are from ca. 40-75 cm (16-30 in).

The spike-like inflorescence forms at the end of branches are green and salmon-orange within the yellow-orange to dark salmon-pink fleshy bracts. Plants are either staminate (male) or pistillate (female).

Growth Requirements

General

ʻIeʻie are easy to grow from seed, but will take patience to grow to a mature size. As young plants, it will appreciate part sun. As the plant grows, the leaves will harden and can be grown in sunnier locations, though it may need protection during the hottest parts of the afternoon. Still, neither of us has grown this plant to maturity as yet, and therefore, we have categorized it as a bit more challenging. A status change from being more challenging to easy may take place as time will reveal its ease or lack thereof in cultivation.

They do well in pots, preferably with support or a host branch or stake to climb. Media can be made up of equal parts peat, perlite and black cinder. Native soils can be incorporated if available, as they contain nutrients, microorganisms and mycorrhizal fungi lacking in sterile potting soils.

Always keep it moist. Young plants, especially, will suffer from a lack of water and may not recover. For potted plants, fertilizers at low doses, perhaps 1/8 or 1/4 teaspoon of recommended strength, can be applied once or twice a month.

Pests and Diseases

Refer to the Pests & Diseases page for treatments.

Uses

Ancient Hawaiian

The aerial roots of ʻieʻie were used to make many useful items by early Hawaiians. After the roots were gathered, perhaps stripped of the bark, and then baked in an earth oven (imu) to soften them before use. If not used immediately, the root fiber was dried, coiled, and stored for future use. When needed, they were soaked in water and plaited into baskets or other objects upon which the material would set up again in the characteristic brittle wicker state. The durable twined baskets (hīnaʻi) [Judd 1938], usually with lids, were the finest in the Hawaiian Islands and all of Polynesia [Neal 1965]! Sometimes, narrow bands of black dyed ʻieʻie straps were added for contrast with the undyed reddish brown fibers [Abbott 1992]. The strong root fibers were also fashioned into fish, crab and lobster traps (hīnaʻi hoʻoluʻuluʻu) [Jones 1986], fish-carrying baskets (hīnaʻi hoʻomoem iʻa), gourd (ipu) wrapper for poi storage, to protect ipu containers [Dodge 1996], wicker frames for idols [Judd 1938], cordage, musical instruments [Krauss 1981] such as handle wrapping for ʻulīʻulī (ipu rattles), [Dodge 1996] for sandals [Judd 1938], and for tying parts of houses together [Judd 1938] and thatch on house roofs. They also made traps for fish [Delay 2005]. Additionally, the fibers were used as the framework for wicker helmets (mahiole) [Judd 1938], feathered helmets (haka), feathered cloaks, and kāhili [Neal 1965].

The beautiful orange-yellow bracts were used for lei [McDonald & Weissich 2003].

Medicinally, D.M. Kaʻaiakamanu asserts that the shoots and leaves were laid over sheets in bed for severe body pain. The shoots were pounded with other plants and squeezed, with the juice given to strengthen children with general debility. The stems were pounded with other plants, squeezed, and the juice was taken for menstrual problems [Ka‘aiakamanu 2003].

Modern Use

Special Features and Information

General

ʻIeʻie (Freycinetia arborea) belongs to the Screw pine family (Pandanaceae) with about 180-200 species, most of them climbers, in the genus Freycinetia throughout Asia, Malesia, the Pacific islands, Australia (Queensland), Norfolk Island, and New Zealand. The only other native relative in the islands is the indigenous hala (Pandanus tectorius).

Lāʻie, short for lau ʻie, a town on windward Oʻahu, means "leaf of the ʻieʻie" [Neal 1965].

ʻIeʻie is important for the environment. The fruit and flowers are a favorite food of the endangered Hawaiian crow or ʻalalā (Corvus hawaiiensis) [Wiley Cox 1983]. The honeycreeper, ʻōʻū (Psittirostra psittacea), has a specialized bill for extracting and eating the fruits whole. These birds were important for plant pollination and the primary seed disperser in the past, but are now very rare or possibly extinct [Wiley Cox 1983]. Other honeycreepers, such as the extinct ʻakialoa (Akialoa spp.) and Greater ʻamakihi (Viridonia sagittirostris), probed the sheathed leaf bases with their long tongues for insects [Pratt 2005]. Presently, one of the primary pollinators appears to be the alien bird Mejiro or Japanese white-eye (Zosterops japonicus) introduced to the Hawaiian Islands in 1929 to Oʻahu and 1937 to Hawaiʻi Island. [Berger 1981]

Hawaiian Name

The name ʻieʻie may be derived from the Hawaiian word ʻie for basket, from which the aerial roots were made. It is noteworthy that Māori use kiekie, the name for the endemic Freycinetia banksii of Aotearoa (New Zealand), extensively, including clothing and baskets [Abbott 1992]. Abbott quotes P.H. Buck (Samoan Material Culture, 1930) in saying that Hawaiian ieʻie baskets "surpass any twined work using similar material in the rest of Polynesia. The Māori made fine eel traps and live eel containers in twined work, but the twined rounds were spaced and cannot be compared with the close twining of the Hawaiians" [Abbott 1992].

Etymology

The genus Freycinetia is named after Captain Louis de Freycinet (1779-1840), commander of the French exploration on board which was Charles Gaudichaud-Beaupré, the first Western botanist to come to the Hawaiian Islands [Stone 1981]. The Latin specific epithet arborea means "tree-like" or "of the trees," suggesting its habit of climbing trees [Gledhill 2008].

DWE