Early Hawaiians certainly brought kou with them as one of the canoe plants since it is such a highly esteemed wood. [5,12]They were planted as a favorite shade tree around houses and by the seashore. [9] Women would beat their kapa under kou trees. [12]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). [7,8,12] Kou was prized because of the beauty of the grain and ease of cutting and carving. [12]Dye:The leaves were used to stain fishing lines a light tan. [5,10,12] The aged leaves were used for a warm brown to red dye for kapa. [1]Fishing:Wood was made into fishing hook containers. [12]Food:The tasteless seeds were eaten in times of famine or occasionally by hungry children.Household Furnishings:Wooden food bowls (ʻumeke kou), meat dishes, cups, platters (pā kou), and calabashes were highly prized as the best of all woods because it did not impart a resinous flavor to the food such as koa and most other native woods. [2,4,8,10]Lei:The flowers were used for lei and young girls especially were fond of lei kou. [4,9,12] They were always strung kui style (one behind the other). [10]Medicinal:Use to treat ʻea (thrush), a disease of young children. [12]Religion:Kou wood was fashioned into images of gods.
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