Ceodes umbellifera
Pāpala kēpau or Umbrella catchbird tree
Nyctaginaceae (Four O'Clock family)
Indigenous to the Hawaiian Islands
Hawaiʻi Island (Cultivated)
The early Hawaiians used an adhesive gum from pāpala kēpau for repairing bowls.
The milky sap from pāpala kēpau was used for cuts. The cooked leaves were used to cure pāʻaoʻao (childhood disease with physical weakening) and for lepo paʻa (constipation).
Pāpala kēpau are truly fascinating plants with a sad, but interesting, cultural history. A sinistral use for the sticky fruit was to trap native birds. [6] The captured victims provided feathers for the strikingly colorful cloaks (capes), helmets, lei, images and kāhili. Birds such as 'ō'ō and mamo were plucked of their few moulting yellow feathers and set free to grow more for the next season. However, this was not the case with the 'i'iwi and 'apapane which were covered with red- or green-colored feathers and would not have survived the plucking. They were captured, plucked and eaten.
Ceodes umbellifera
Pāpala kēpau or Umbrella catchbird tree
Nyctaginaceae (Four O'Clock family)
Indigenous to the Hawaiian Islands
Hawaiʻi Island (Cultivated)
The early Hawaiians used an adhesive gum from pāpala kēpau for repairing bowls.
The milky sap from pāpala kēpau was used for cuts. The cooked leaves were used to cure pāʻaoʻao (childhood disease with physical weakening) and for lepo paʻa (constipation).
Pāpala kēpau are truly fascinating plants with a sad, but interesting, cultural history. A sinistral use for the sticky fruit was to trap native birds. [6] The captured victims provided feathers for the strikingly colorful cloaks (capes), helmets, lei, images and kāhili. Birds such as 'ō'ō and mamo were plucked of their few moulting yellow feathers and set free to grow more for the next season. However, this was not the case with the 'i'iwi and 'apapane which were covered with red- or green-colored feathers and would not have survived the plucking. They were captured, plucked and eaten.