''Freycinetia arborea'', ''Ieie'', is a densely branched, brittle, woody climber in the family Pandanaceae,

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to the Pacific Islands. ''Ieie'' is found in

moist forest Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Description TSMF is generally found in large, discont ...

on the Hawaiian,

Marquesas The Marquesas Islands (; french: Îles Marquises or ' or '; Marquesan: ' (North Marquesan) and ' (South Marquesan), both meaning "the land of men") are a group of volcanic islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in t ...

, Austral,

Society A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soci ...

, and

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

. It grows into the

forest canopy In biology, the canopy is the aboveground portion of a plant cropping or crop, formed by the collection of individual plant crowns. In forest ecology, canopy also refers to the upper layer or habitat zone, formed by mature tree crowns an ...

, attaching itself to a host tree using

aerial root Aerial roots are roots above the ground. They are almost always adventitious. They are found in diverse plant species, including epiphytes such as orchids (''Orchidaceae''), tropical coastal swamp trees such as mangroves, banyan figs (''Fic ...

s. It may also grow as a sprawling tangle on the forest floor. The shiny green leaves have pointed ends and are spiny on the lower side of the midrib and along the edges. Leaves measure long and wide, and are spirally arranged around the ends of branches.

Flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s form on spike-like

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...

s at the end of branches, and are either

staminate The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

pistillate Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl (botany), whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or m ...

. Staminate spikes are yellowish-white and up to in length. Pistillate spikes are but elongate to once

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

are produced. Three to four spikes are surrounded by orange-salmon bracts. Fruit is long and contains many

seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...

s. The bracts and fruit of the ''ieie'' were a favorite food of the '' ōū'' (''Psittirostra psittacea''), an extinct

Hawaiian honeycreeper Hawaiian honeycreepers are a group of small, passerine birds endemic to Hawaii. They are closely related to the rosefinches in the genus ''Carpodacus'', but many species have evolved features unlike those present in any other finch. Their great ...

that was formerly a principal

seed dispersal In Spermatophyte plants, seed dispersal is the movement, spread or transport of seeds away from the parent plant. Plants have limited mobility and rely upon a variety of dispersal vectors to transport their seeds, including both abiotic vectors ...

vector for plants with small seeded, fleshy fruits in low elevation forests. It is also a favored food of the '' alalā'' (''Corvus hawaiiensis''), which is currently extinct in the wild.

Uses

Native Hawaiians used ''ieie'' to make ''hīnai hoomoe ia'' (fish baskets), ''hīnai hooluuluu'' (

fish trap A fish trap is a trap used for fishing. Fish traps include fishing weirs, lobster traps, and some fishing nets such as fyke nets. Traps are culturally almost universal and seem to have been independently invented many times. There are two ma ...

s), and ''mahiole ie'' ('' alii'' helmets).

References

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q5503309

arborea Arborea is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Oristano, Sardinia, Italy, whose economy is largely based on agriculture and cattle breeding with production of vegetables, rice, fruit and milk (notably the local milk product Arborea). Histo ...

Flora of the Pacific Flora of Hawaii Flora of the Cook Islands

Uses

See also

References