Ti leaf

Ti grows mostly at the edges of the woods and in other wet open forests. At lower elevations, old Hawaiians believed that the ti leaf would keep the evil spirits away, so they would grow them around their houses.

The ti plant is in the lily family. It is a very plain plant with a few branches. Ti plants can grow three to six feet high. Its broad, smooth leaves overlap each other on the base of the stem. The lower and older leaves turn yellow and fall off.

In old Hawaiian times there were many ways to use the ti leaf. One way was for wrapping something inside like to cook pork they wrap it up in several ti leaves, it was also used as a bag and to keep a lei fresh, too. It was used as clothing, for rain coats, hula skirts and sandals, and because it is water proof they used it on their roofs for protection.

The root of the ti leaf would be dug up and wrapped in another leaf then put it inside an imu with other foods. Eventually it would harden and would be a sweet candy.

Ti was used for fevers or headaches. They would place it on the forehead. The ti leaf keeps in hot and cold because there is a lot of moisture in it. The center of the ti leaves are the baby ti leaves that had not yet opened up. They were used as bandages to heal wounds.