NOTE - THIS PROTO-PAGE IS STILL IN THE EARLY STAGES OF CONSTRUCTION!

This name probably originated in Tahiti or the Marquesas, as it is shared, in slightly different forms, by Hawaiian, Tahitian and Mäori, in all cases referring to endemic species of tree ferns, but extended to include a recent introduction, Cyathea cooperi, in Tahiti. The proto-form is reconstructed as referring to Cyathea species, as it was applied to the mamaku (Cyathea medullaris) in Aotearoa and Tahiti, and in Hawai'i refers especially to Sadleria cyatheoides. Although the latter fern is botanically a member of a very different family (the Blechnaceae), it is sufficiently reminiscent of the Cyatheas to have been given a specific name meaning "resembling a Cyathea" by the botanist G. L. Kaulfuss in his 1824 work Enumerato Filicum.

The Rarotongan cognate listed in the panel opposite is probably an acquisition in historic times from Tahitian, or possibly NZ Mäori, because it refers only to an introduced species of Cyathea, not the native ones. Cyathea medullaris, the New Zealand mamaku, is found natively in Aotearoa, Fiji, and parts of Polynesia, and Cyathea smithii is an Australian species native to New South Wales and Queensland. Both these plants are used widely in horticulture and are now found in gardens around the world. C. smithii was also introduced to Hawaii, where it has become something of a menace to the indigenous flora.

The New Zealand mamaku is discussed on the linked page, so the Hawaiian 'ama'u will be the focus of attention here. This short tree fern was a very important plant in traditional Hawaiian life (the trunk often reaches less than 2 metres when mature, although some are double that height, but the fronds can be up to 3 metres long). Firstly, David Malo in his Hawaiian Antiquities notes that the places where it grows best were also considered the most suitable for cultivation, and the name ma'u (the word root from which mamaku/'ama'u is formed) was applied to this level of the mountainside. He also mentions its value as a food in times of famine -- both the tender young leaf-shoots and the pithy flesh within the trunk were eaten. The leaf stalks were also used to mark tapa with a red dye obtained from the outer edge of the trunk, while a glue for the tapa was also extracted from the fronds.

Perhaps even more significantly, the 'ama'u was regarded as a manifestation of the demigod Kamapua'a, who also manifested himself as a pig, and was a persistent suitor of the volcano goddess Pele. Indeed, the name of the huge Halema'uma'u ("House of the 'ama'u ferns") crater in the caldera of Kilauea volcano is named after Kamapua'a wooing Pele in his tree fern guise.

The fern was also a valuable source of mulch (from the dried fronds), as well as being used for thatching roofs and walls of houses and for making temporary shelters. Daniel Palmer (Hawaií's Ferns) quotes two interesting sayings connected with the 'ama'u:

Huli ka lau o ka 'ama'u i uka, nui ka wai o kahawai",
"When the leaves of the 'ama'u turn towards the upland, it is a sign of flood"

(The wind is blowing the rainclouds towards the mountains as well as the leaves.)

The other saying, pepe'e palaholo -- "a rolled up frond of 'ama'u" [which provides the glue to stick the pieces of tapa together] -- essentially means that from little things come great results.