Palai | Pareu - All Colors

100% Organic cotton | Organic dye | Designed in Hawaiʻi | Made in the USA | Dimensions: 70" long x 44" wide

Ferns are like the green gilding of Hawaiian romance and story; they are everywhere! Woven into lei, made into skirts of magical power, laid down as a blanket for a lover, embodied by different akua and kupua, the list goes on. When we think of epic tales of aloha, the mind quickly alights on the escapades of the amorous Kamapuaʻa, the insatiable kolohe (rogue) who has multiple physical forms (kinolau) including palai a Kamapuaʻa (Amauropelta globulifera), a species of fern endemic to Hawaiʻi that is now becoming rare. The name palai applies to three species of Hawaiian ferns. Palai is a kinolau of Laka, goddess of the hula, and is commonly placed on altars made for her. Synonymous with beauty both in appearance and scent, the use of palai goes far beyond hula. Anyone wanting to make themselves or a space inviting would go into the mountains and come back with "nā lipolipo o ka wao" (forest greenery), especially fragrant things like palai. Some may not think of palai as especially aromatic, but that all depends on preference. With a few exceptions, Hawaiian plants tend to have sweet, gentle fragrances, which is reflected in our kūpuna's taste. For lei and decoration, they preferred the soft perfumes of palai, maile, lehua, ʻawapuhi and the like. E hanu lipo - Breathe it in deep.