Kou (Cordia subcordata) is in the Borage or Foget-me-not family (Boraginaceae) Kou is known by a number of local names outside of the Hawaiian Islands, such as Bird lime tree, Glueberry, Kerosene wood, Manjak, Mareer, Marer, Narrow-leafed bird lime tree, Snottygobbles, and Tou. Early Hawaiians certainly brought Kou with them as one of the canoe plants since it is such a highly esteemed wood. In Papua New Guinea this indigenous tree is known as the Kerosene tree because it burns so easily.
Kou is considered a rare wood. It grows in the coastal regions of the Hawaiian islands. Kou was almost totally destroyed by a moth in the 1800’s.
This wood was prized by Hawaiian royalty for food use: poi bowls, calabashes and utensils as Kou does not impart a taste to food.
Legend says the Gods choose who can work in Kou.
Kou canopy may spread to 25 feet across, often as wide as tall. In the 19th century, Kou grew as tall as 50 feet in Hawaiiʻi, but defoliation by kou leaf worm as reduced the heights. Such giants may remain in remote areas in the Marshall Islands and elsewhere in the Pacific. The seeds are salt-water tolerate and disperse along coastal areas even on atolls where few other timber trees for wood can grow.
Formerly thought to be exclusively a Polynesian introduction, a recent fossil site at Māhāʻulepū, Kauaʻi predates Polynesian arrival where Kou samples were found and thus proving that Kou is also an indigenous plant. The seeds are salt-water tolerate and disperse along coastal areas even on atolls where few other timber trees for wood can grow.
Kou was considered as one of the best woods for carvings along with the native koa (Acacia koa) and milo (Thespesia populnea), and the Polynesian introduced kamani (Calophyllum inophyllum). Kou was prized because of the beauty of the grain and ease of cutting and carving.
The leaves were used to stain fishing lines a light tan. The aged leaves were used for a warm brown to red dye for kapa, a type of textile made from the bark of the paper mulberry tree.
Kou is considered a rare wood. It grows in the coastal regions of the Hawaiian islands. Kou was almost totally destroyed by a moth in the 1800’s.
This wood was prized by Hawaiian royalty for food use: poi bowls, calabashes and utensils as Kou does not impart a taste to food.
Legend says the Gods choose who can work in Kou.
Kou canopy may spread to 25 feet across, often as wide as tall. In the 19th century, Kou grew as tall as 50 feet in Hawaiiʻi, but defoliation by kou leaf worm as reduced the heights. Such giants may remain in remote areas in the Marshall Islands and elsewhere in the Pacific. The seeds are salt-water tolerate and disperse along coastal areas even on atolls where few other timber trees for wood can grow.
Formerly thought to be exclusively a Polynesian introduction, a recent fossil site at Māhāʻulepū, Kauaʻi predates Polynesian arrival where Kou samples were found and thus proving that Kou is also an indigenous plant. The seeds are salt-water tolerate and disperse along coastal areas even on atolls where few other timber trees for wood can grow.
Kou was considered as one of the best woods for carvings along with the native koa (Acacia koa) and milo (Thespesia populnea), and the Polynesian introduced kamani (Calophyllum inophyllum). Kou was prized because of the beauty of the grain and ease of cutting and carving.
The leaves were used to stain fishing lines a light tan. The aged leaves were used for a warm brown to red dye for kapa, a type of textile made from the bark of the paper mulberry tree.