Pulu is a silky material obtained from the fibers of the hapuu pulu (''
Cibotium glaucum
''Cibotium glaucum'', the hāpu‘u pulu, is a species of fern in the family Cyatheaceae, native to Hawaii. A slow-growing tree fern typically tall but reaching , it is hardy in USDA zones 10 through 12. Its fiddleheads are the source of the mat ...
''), a
tree fern
Tree ferns are arborescent (tree-like) ferns that grow with a trunk (botany), trunk elevating the fronds above ground level, making them trees. Many extant tree ferns are members of the order Cyatheales, to which belong the families Cyatheaceae ( ...
of
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
.
It is made of the brown hairs that cover the young
fiddlehead
Fiddleheads or fiddlehead greens are the furled fronds from a fledgling fern, harvested for use as a vegetable.
Left on the plant, each fiddlehead would unroll into a new frond ( circinate vernation). As fiddleheads are harvested early in ...
as it uncoils.
Ancient Hawaii
In
ancient Hawaii
Ancient Hawaii is the period of Hawaiian history preceding the establishment in 1795 of the Kingdom of Hawaii by Kamehameha the Great. Traditionally, researchers estimated the first settlement of the Hawaiian islands as having occurred sporad ...
, pulu (which means "mulch" or "padding" in the
Hawaiian language
Hawaiian (', ) is a critically endangered Polynesian language of the Austronesian language family, originating in and native to the Hawaiian Islands. It is the native language of the Hawaiian people. Hawaiian, along with English, is an offi ...
) was used to
embalm
Embalming is the art and science of preserving human remains by treating them with embalming chemicals in modern times to forestall decomposition. This is usually done to make the deceased suitable for viewing as part of the funeral ceremony or ...
the dead.
Women used pulu as an absorbent during their
menstrual cycle
The menstrual cycle is a series of natural changes in hormone production and the structures of the uterus and ovaries of the female reproductive system that makes pregnancy possible. The ovarian cycle controls the production and release of eg ...
. When their time came around, they were isolated to a house called the ''hale pea'' or menstrual house. Men were strongly discouraged to set foot on the grounds of the hale pea, by strict social custom known as ''
kapu''.
Hawaiians organized the hapuu fern into two genders; male and female. Males had the tough pulu, and females had the soft pulu. All soiled pulu was then buried around the hale pea.
19th-century industry
For a period in the 19th century, pulu was collected, dried, and exported to
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
commercially as pillow and mattress stuffing. A stone structure in
Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park
Hawaii ( ; ) is an island state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only state not on the North American mainland, th ...
known as the Old Pulu Factory was a site for drying and packing pulu. However, the discovery that pulu breaks down and crumbles into dust after only a few years led to the demise of the industry. Pulu was collected by cutting down the slow-growing ferns, an extremely unsustainable method. The industry shut down by the 1880s.
References
Further reading
*
External links
* {{cite web , title=Napau Crater , author=Nathan Yuen , publisher=HawaiianForest.Com , date=May 31, 2010 , url=http://hawaiianforest.com/napau-crater , access-date=October 20, 2010 , url-status=dead , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101009215312/http://hawaiianforest.com/napau-crater , archive-date=October 9, 2010 (trail to old pulu factory described)
Hawaii culture
Fiber plants