Napkins | Palai + Kupukupu - lemon-lime - *ASF*

Napkins | Palai + Kupukupu - lemon-lime - *ASF*

$38.00

*ASF* - ALL SALES FINAL. This sale item may not be returned or exchanged. Mahalo.

100% Organic cotton | a set of four | print varies with each napkin | measures approx 18" by 18"Palai & Kupukupu 

Palai & Kupukupu 
Made into lei, fashioned into skirts of magical power, laid down as a blanket in the forest for a lover, placed upon the kuahu hula, embodied by different akua and kupua, ferns are everywhere in moʻolelo Hawaiʻi. They were also found in glorious profusion all over the ʻāina  making up 27% of our native flora. Their beauty and fragrance made them popular for decorating spaces, adorning the body, and even scenting kapa. But their populations have suffered under habitat destruction and the onslaught of alien species like pigs, goats, and deer. This is a major concern, because ferns perform critical ecosystem functions like buffering rainfall, mitigating runoff, and providing homes for a variety of creatures. Here, we highlight three types of palai that are less well known to most folks: Palapalai a kamapuaʻa (Amauropelta globulifera), palai huna (Adenophorus hymenophylloides), and palai hihi (Vandenboschia davillioides). They are found on all the main islands, but each is unique in its own right. Like its name, substantial form, and dapper taper suggest, palapalai a Kamapuaʻa is one of several kinolau (physical forms) of the famous pig god. Half the size, uniformely slender, and very delicate, palai huna hides in carpets of moss or on trees when growing in the wet forest. Palai hihi is between the other two in size and is the only one of the three that closely resembles the iconic palapalai most people know (Microlepia strigosa). Also included in this mix is the endemic ʻōkupukupu, aka Nephrolepis exaltata subsp. hawaiiensis, which likes mesic to wet forests and is used ceremonially to incite the early stages of growth (kupu means to sprout). E hanu lipo - Breathe it in deep.

 

Nani ke oho o ke kupukupu o Kānehoa,

Lupea nō i ka hau o Kalena,

ʻAʻala ka hanu o ka mauʻu nēnē,

I ka hoʻopē ʻia e ka ua kakahiaka,

Ala nā maka o ka palai o uka,

Ala nō, liʻa i ke anu a ka Waikoloa,

Kūkū pono nā lihilihi o ka lehua i ka ua,

Pehu ke koali ua honi i ka wai,

Aloha maila au iā Malamanui,

I ke kula o Pūleʻe i Kanoenoe,

ʻO ʻoukou kaʻu e uē aʻe nei,

I ka hele o māua me kuʻu aloha,

Koe iho ʻoukou i kauhale,

I kūlana hale hoʻi o kākou,

Aloha nō—ē

‘O ke kupukupu a me ka palai o Kānehoa, kekahi o nā mea nani o ko Kahelekūlani ʻāina i noho ai me kāna kāne, me Olopana hoʻi. I hoʻoholo ka hana a lāua e hele i Kauaʻi, uē nui akula ʻo Kahelekūlani i ke aloha a puka aʻela kēia mele. He mea maʻamau ia ma nā moʻolelo Hawaiʻi, ʻoiai he loina kupuna nō ka hōʻike ʻana i ke aloha i ka ʻāina a me ka ʻohana (Kamaakamahiʻai, Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, 31 Dec. 1870).



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