hau tree

[ hou tree ]

noun

1. a clambering tree, Hibiscus tileaceus, of tropical shores, having leathery, ovate leaves and yellow flowers that turn dark red as they fade, and yielding a fiber used as cordage.

Word History and Origins

Origin of hau tree¹

First recorded in 1840–45; from Hawaiian hau “hau tree” + tree

Example Sentences

She remembered listening as he sang them over and over under the hau tree at Waikiki.

From Project Gutenberg

The sign of the shallow sea kapu was the placing of branches of the hau tree all along the shore.

From Project Gutenberg

The doctor laughed at it heartily, as a joke on himself, and glanced at the musicians under the hau tree.

From Project Gutenberg

Over this limb hung a stout rope braided of the fibrous bark of the hau tree.

From Project Gutenberg

The silent witness to these festivities of years ago, the great hau-tree, still stands.

From Project Gutenberg