Go to the English to Hawaiian Directory for the Plants Category

 
a‘a. noun. Root, small root, rootlet. A‘a is used in the street named Kea‘ahala in Kāne‘ohe. Kea‘ahala means "the (ke) pandanus (hala) root (a‘a)."
   For the glossary entry and more information, see a‘a.

 
‘āhinahina. noun. The silversword. The silversword is a native plant found only on the islands of Maui and Hawai‘i at altitudes above 4,900 feet.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see ‘āhinahina.

 
‘aka‘akai. noun. Great bulrush. The great bulrush, a sedge plant that grows on the edge of fresh and brackish water marshes in Hawai‘i.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see ‘aka‘akai.

 
‘alani. noun, stative verb. Orange. The color and any kind of orange, both the fruit and the tree.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see ‘alani.

 
aloalo. noun. All kinds of hibiscus.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see aloalo.

   
‘āpala. noun. Apple. Transliterated from English "apple."
   For the glossary entry and more information, see ‘āpala.

 
‘awa. noun. Kava. The kava plant, a shrub native to the Pacific islands. The root of the kava plant is the source of a narcotic drink.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see ‘awa.

 
‘awapuhi. noun. Ginger.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see ‘awapuhi.

 
hala. noun. The pandanus tree, screw pine tree.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see hala.

 
halakahiki. noun. Pineapple. Literally "foreign hala." The pineapple is not native to Hawai‘i, but comes from South America.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see halakahiki.

 
hau. noun. A lowland tree (Hibiscus tiliaceus). Used in the place name for the town called Hau‘ula. Hau‘ula means "red hau."
   For the glossary entry and more information, see hau.

 
hinahina. noun. The silversword plant. Hinahina is another name for the silversword plant, but it is better known as the ‘āhinahina.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see hinahina.

 
hua. noun. Fruit, egg, seed.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see hua.

 
hua ‘ai. noun. Edible fruit or seed.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see hua ‘ai.

 
hua makekemia. noun. Macadamia nut. The nut from the Macadamia tree from Australia.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see hua makekemia.

 
huli. noun. The top of the taro corm used for planting. A slice of the very top of the taro (kalo) corm about half an inch thick with about 9 inches of the base of the leaf stem left on the corm as part of the huli. The huli was used to plant and propagate the taro.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see huli.

 
‘iliahi. noun. Sandalwood. All Hawaiian kinds of sandlewood trees and shrubs. From 1790 to 1830, the Kingdom of Hawai‘i traded sandalwood with China. Sandalwood was desired for its fragrant heartwood.
   For the glossary entry and other possible meanings, see ‘iliahi.

 
‘īlima. noun. A small to large native shrub (sida plant) and its flower. In 1923, the Territorial Legislature designated the ‘īlima as the flower of O‘ahu.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see ‘īlima.

 
kalo. noun. Taro. From the earliest of times, taro was a food staple in Hawai‘i. Used to make poi.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see kalo.

 
kāpiki. noun. Cabbage. Transliterated from English "cabbage."
   For the glossary entry and more information, see kāpiki.

 
keli. noun. Cherry. The Pukui / Elbert Hawaiian Dictionary [PE] has no word for "cherry", keli comes from Māmaka Kaiao [MK]. Transliterated from English "cherry."
   For the glossary entry and more information, see keli.

 
kī. noun. The Ti plant.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see kī.

 
kō. noun. Sugar cane.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see kō.

 
kuawa. noun. Guava. Transliterated from the English "guava." A plant and its fruit that is native to South and Central America and areas as far north as Mexico.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see kuawa.

 
kukui. noun. Candlenut tree and the nuts from the tree.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see kukui.

 
kūlina. noun. Corn.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see kūlina.

 
kumu. noun. Tree trunk, main stalk of a tree.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see kumu.

 
kumulā‘au. noun. Tree.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see kumulā‘au.

 
lā‘au. noun. Tree, plant, bush.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see lā‘au.

 
lama. noun. An endemic tree of ebony family, a hardwood tree.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see lama.

 
lau. noun. Leaf, frond. Lau is sometimes contracted into the suffix lā- as in the name of the town Lā‘ie (‘ie leaf). The picture above shows the wiliwili leaf.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see lau.

  
lauhala. noun. Pandanus leaf. This leaf is used in plaiting like the mat shown above.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see lauhala.

 
lehua. noun. The flower of the ‘ōhi‘a tree; also the tree itself.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see lehua.

 
loke. noun. Rose. Transliterated from English "rose."
   For the glossary entry and more information, see loke.

 
lokelani. noun. Probably heavenly rose. Probably literally "heavenly rose." Rosa chinensis, a pink rose and the symbol of Maui. Also see lani, loke.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see lokelani.

 
lū‘au. noun. Young taro tops. Unsually wrapped "laulau style", then baked or steamed.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see lū‘au.

 
mai‘a. noun. All kinds of bananas and plantains.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see mai‘a.

 
makekemia. noun. Macadamia. A tree and its nut from Australia. Transliterated from English "macadamia."
   For the glossary entry and more information, see makekemia.

 
manakō. noun. Mango. Transliterated from English "mango."
   For the glossary entry and more information, see manakō.

 
melia. Plumeria. All varieties of plumeria. According to the PE dictionary, the word melia may be a transliteration of plumeria. The front end (plu) of the plumeria seems to have been chopped off, so that all that is left for transliteration is meria. To transliterate meria, you only have to change the letter r to the letter l.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see melia.

 
niu. noun. Coconut, the coconut palm.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see niu.

 
‘ohai. noun. Monkeypod or rain tree. The monkeypod is not native to Hawai‘i, but comes to us from the Americas where it is native to South America and areas as far north as Mexico.The picture above shows the "Hitachi Tree", perhaps the most famous monkeypod tree in the world, certainly Hawai‘i. The "Hitachi Tree" must be one of the best paid plants in the world, earning 400,000 dollars per year for Moanalua Gardens. The Japanese electronics manufacturer Hitachi, Ltd. pays four hundred thousand dollars a year to use the tree's image for promotional purposes. I wish I had a tree like that. Earning 400 grand a year, it would be a great provider. I would even marry a tree like that if it were legal. Along with racism and other forms of bigotry, hopefully, plantism will one day be a thing of the past. Loving and committed relationships between trees and people should be recognized by the government by allowing them to marry them. When will the prejudice, hatred and discrimination end. Here is a link to an article about the tree from "The Honolulu Advertiser."
   For the glossary entry and more information, see ‘ohai.

 
‘ohe. noun. Bamboo. ‘Ohe is used in the place name Kāne‘ohe.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see ‘ohe.

 
‘ōhelo. noun. A native shrub with edible red berries.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see ‘ōhelo.

 
‘ōhi‘a. noun. Two kinds of trees; ‘ōhi‘a ‘ai (mountain apple tree) and ‘ōhi‘a (lehua flower tree).
   For the glossary entry and more information, see ‘ōhi‘a.

 
‘ōhi‘a ‘ai. noun. The mountain apple tree and its fruit. Literally "edible ‘ōhi‘a."
   For the glossary entry and more information, see ‘ōhi‘a ‘ai.

 
‘ōhi‘a lehua. noun. The tree that produces the lehua flower.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see ‘ōhi‘a lehua.

 
‘oi‘oi. noun. Thorn.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see ‘oi‘oi.

 
olonā. noun. A native shrub. The bark of the olonā was used to make a very strong cordage which was used for many purposes.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see olonā.

 
paka. noun. Tobacco.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see paka.

 
pakalōlō. noun. Marijuana. Literally "numbing tobacco."
   For the glossary entry and more information, see pakalōlō.

 
pia. noun. Polynesian arrowroot.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see pia.

 
pīkake. noun. Arabian jasmine. An introduced plant. Princess Ka‘iulani was fond of both peacocks and the flower from this plant, so the plant and flowers were given the same name as the peacock (pīkake).
   For the glossary entry and more information, see pīkake.

 
pili. noun. A type of grass. A grass formerly used to thatch houses.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see pili.

 
pū. noun. Cluster of tree stalks, as bananas (mai‘a) or pandanus (pūhala).
   For the glossary entry and more information, see pū.

 
pua. noun. Flower, blossom.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see pua.

 
pūhala. noun. Pandanus tree, screw pine tree. Compare with hala (pandanus tree).
   For the glossary entry and more information, see pūhala.

 
‘uala, ‘uwala. noun. Sweet potato. ‘Uwala, showing a w in the word is a common alternative spelling and perhaps the more legitimate spelling. I used to think the w was just a w-glide spelled in the word, but the w came about in a different way than most w-glides. I have been told that the word ‘uwala was derived from the Sāmoan word umala for the sweet potato. Somehow the m became a w. The sweet potato originaly came to Hawai‘i from South America. It is now thought that Polynesian explorers encountered South America and acquired the sweet potato through trade. ‘Uala and ‘uwala are pronounced exactly the same. The picture above shows the sign at the entrance of Pu‘u‘ualaka‘a (rolling sweet potato) State Park.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see ‘uala.

 
‘uala kahiki. noun. The white or Irish potato. Literally "foreigh sweet potato." Of course the Irish potato is not a sweet potato, the Hawaiians were simply comparing the Irish sweet potato to the only potato that they had previously known.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see ‘uala kahiki.

 
uhi. noun. Yam (Dioscorea Alata). The yam from southeast Asia. A climber with large underground tubers. The uhi should not be confused with the sweet potato.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see uhi.

 
‘ulu. noun. Breadfruit tree and its fruit.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see ‘ulu.

 
wiliwili. noun. A native Hawaiian tree. A leguminous tree. The wood of this tree is very light and was used for surfboards, canoe outriggers and net floats.
   For the glossary entry and more information, see wiliwili.

English to Hawaiian Directory – Click Here for Plants Parts Directory

apple. See ‘āpala.
Arabian jasmine. See pīkake.
arrowroot. See pia.
bamboo. See ‘ohe.
banana. See mai‘a.
breadfruit tree and its fruit. See ‘ulu.
cabbage. See kāpiki.
candlenut tree and the candlenut. See kukui.
cherry. See keli.
coconut. See niu.
coconut palm. See niu.
corn. See kūlina.
ginger. See ‘awapuhi.
grass, a type of. See pili.
great bulrush. See ‘aka‘akai.
guava. See kuawa.
hibiscus. See aloalo.
hibiscus tiliaaceus. See hau.
‘īlima. See ‘īlima.
kawa. See ‘awa.
lama tree. See lama.
lokelani. See lokelani.
macadamia tree. See makekemia.
macadamia nut. See hua makekemia.
mango. See manakō.
marijuana. See pakalōlō.
monkeypod. See ‘ohai.
mountain apple tree. See ‘ōhi‘a.
‘ōhelo. See ‘ōhelo.
‘ōhi‘a flower tree. See ‘ōhi‘a.
‘ōhi‘a tree flower. See lehua.
olonā. See olonā.
orange. See ‘alani.
pandanus. See hala / pūhala.
pandanus leaf. See lauhala.
pineapple. See halakahiki.
plantains. See mai‘a.
plumeria. See melia.
polynesian arrowroot. See pia.
potato. See ‘uala kahiki.
rain tree. See ‘ohai.
rose. See loke.
sandalwood. See ‘iliahi.
screw pine. See hala / pūhala.
silversword. See ‘āhinahina / hinahina.
sugar cane. See kō.
sweet potato. See ‘uala.
taro. See kalo.
taro tops, young. See lū‘au.
ti plant. See kī.
tobacco. See paka.
wiliwili. See wiliwili.
yam. See uhi.

Plant Parts Directory

blossom. See pua.
bush. See lā‘au.
cluster of tree stalks. See pū.
edible fruit. See hua ‘ai.
edible seed. See hua ‘ai.
flower. See pua.
frond. See lau.
fruit. See hua.
leaf. See lau.
plant. See lā‘au.
root. See a‘a.
rootlet. See a‘a.
seed. See hua.
taro top (used for planting). See huli.
thorn. See ‘oi‘oi.
tree. See kumu.
tree trunk. See kumulā‘au.

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