Hauhau Tree

[Thomas Lammers]

At 11:55 AM 2/10/00 -0500, you wrote:

>For translating purposes I would need to know the scientific name
>of the Hauhau Tree native to Easter Island.
>The only information I have is that the early Polynesians used it to
>make ropes, that the tree almost got extinct and that it is
>described as "a small native tree, related to the linden."

I do not have a copy of Skottsberg's flora of Easter Island (Rapa Nui or
Isla de Pascua), but I do know that throughout much of Polynesia incl.
Hawaii, "hau" refers to Hibiscus tiliaceus L. (Malvaceae), a small tree
which supplied bast fibers  used for cordage.  It is not related in a
taxonomic sense to linden (Tilia spp., Tiliaceae), but the leaves are broad
and rounded at base like a linden's.


Thomas G. Lammers, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor and Curator of the Herbarium (OSH)
Department of Biology and Microbiology
University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54901-8640 USA

e-mail:                     lammers at uwosh.edu
phone (office):         920-424-7085
phone (herbarium):  920-424-1002
fax:                         920-424-1101

Plant systematics; classification, nomenclature, evolution, and
biogeography of the Campanulaceae s. lat.
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