Pisonia umbellifera

Description:

Ppala kpau or Umbrella catchbird treeNyctaginaceae (Four O'Clock family)Indigenous to the Hawaiian IslandsHawaii Island (Cultivated)The early Hawaiians used an adhesive gum from ppala kpau for repairing bowls.The milky sap from ppala kpau (Pisonia spp.) was used for cuts. The cooked leaves were used to cure paoao (childhood disease with physical weakening) and for lepo paa (constipation).Ppala kpau are truly fascinating plants with a sad, but interesting, cultural history. A sinistral use for the sticky fruit was to trap native birds. [6] The captured victims provided feathers for the strikingly colorful cloaks (capes), helmets, lei, images and khili. Birds such as '' and mamo were plucked of their few moulting yellow feathers and set free to grow more for the next season. However, this was not the case with the 'i'iwi and 'apapane which were covered with red- or green-colored feathers and would not have survived the plucking. They were captured, plucked and eaten.The generic name Pisonia is named for William Piso (ca. 1611-1678), Dutch physician, pharmacist, botanist, and early writer on medicinal plants of Brazil.The specific epithet umbellifera is from the Latin umbelliferum, umbel-bearing or shade carrying, from umbrella (altered from umbell), Latin for parasol, and named for the large leaves of this species.NPH00002nativeplants.hawaii.edu/plant/view/Pisonia_umbellifera