NA LEI

• Na Lei Index
  
  

• Hula Mai 'Oe Newsletter
  
  
  
  

Lei Kauna'oa

Native to Hawai'i, this unusual plant is found growing wild in fields, along the roadsides and above the high water mark on the leeward beaches.  It begins its growth and roots in the ground then it attaches itself to other plants.  It is a parasite thriving on the host plant.  The entire light orange beach variety is used to make the lei kauna'oa.  The stringy, slender-stems are twisted or braided together to make a length long enough to circle the head or to hand over the shoulders.

In the legends and meles of old, the island of Lana'i, was noted for its kauna'oa.  As a result, the official lei of that island today is the lei kauna'oa.

Kauna'oa-pehu, a very coarse variety is frequently used for leis since it is more common than kauna'oa.

Reference:  Ka Lei, The Leis of Hawaii by Marie A. McDonald