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Lei Pikake

The pikake was believed to have been introduced by the Chinese.  It's flowers was popular for its scent and was used for ornamentation and to flavor tea.

The plant and its very fragrant white flowers got its Hawaiian name from Princess Kai'ulani who called it pikake (peacock) after the peacocks that lived among the bushes in her garden.  The peacocks and pikake were among her most prized possessions.

Because of its fragrance the pikake is one of the most popular kind of lei today.  It is the lei for courting, for marriage ceremonies and for honoring women in general.

If you are gifted with one strand of pikake, you feel good.  If you receive two strands, you feel great! Six strands, you are overwhelmed.  Twelve strands, you are ecstatic.  If you receive a lei poepoe, you are beside yourself!

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