Introduction
Maire as a scented vine
Maire as a fragrant fern
Maire Vai'ī -- The "Hawaiian Maire" Euodia hortensis
Maire in the Bible
The iconic tropical maire (or maile) are the beautifully scented vines of the genus Alyxia, transformed into garlands for visiting dignatories and other honoured guests. By association the name has been transferred to a variety of plants, from vines to ferns and tall trees, sharing some of the Alyxias' salient features, especially the fragrance or the olive-shaped fruit. In Aotearoa (which has a separate page devoted to its version of Maire) there are strong echoes of both these features, but they are reflected in very different ways from their tropical Polynesian counterparts..
Maire as a scented vine
 Throughout Polynesia (except for Aotearoa, where the word but not the plant arrived, and Rapanui) a relex of Proto-Polynesian *maile denotes the fragrant climbing shrub Alyxia stellata. This is an amazing multi-form species, found naturally from the Solomon and Caroline Islands to Hawai'i. The species has defied precise description, as it is sometimes a small tree up to 3 m tall, sometimes a scandent shrub which may become a climber. It has in the past been separated into several species, which have since been combined under a single name -- the Hawaiian plants were formerly grouped together as A. olivaeformis, for example.
The maire has eliptical leaves up to 8 x 3 cm long and wide (but they may be much narrower), grouped in pairs along the stems with flowers and fruit in between. It has small tubular flowers (illustrated on the left) produced in clusters of 3-5. The leaves and flowers are very fragrant -- all parts of the plant contain coumarin, the active ingredient in the scent. It also has a fragrant milky sap. This is a forest tree or vine, found from near sea level to 2000 m. in Hawai'i and about 200 to 1200 m. in the Marquesas. In Samoa it is particularly common in relatively dry forest on coastal ridges near the sea, but has been reported in forest from 20 to 1700 m. above sea level.
In Hawai'i the leaves were used for scenting tapa, both newly made and stored. There the maile is connected with Laka, the goddess of the hula, and symbolized also the four Maile Sisters, who first come to notice for their unsuccessful attempts to use the fragrance of maile to influence La'ieikawai, a young woman under divine protection who lived near Puna in a house covered with the yellow feathers of the o'o bird, to accept their brother as a suitor and were abandoned by him in the forest -- the story does not end there, and they are also associated with the hula and Laka. There is an account of the complex proceedings on the Sacred Texts website. Maile is one of the plants used in religious ceremonies associated with the hula. Maile leis are also made to honour important individuals. The bark (with the leaves attached) is removed from the woody stems; the leaves will remain fragrant for many days, increasing in intensity as the leaves and bark dry out.
In Tahiti and Rarotongai Alyxia stellata is used to scent coconut oil. In Samoa the three native species of Alyxia (A. stellata, known as Gau or Lau maile to distiguish it from the other meaning of maile in Samoa, "dog"), and two forest vines, A. bracteolosa and A samoensis, are used for leis in the same way as in Hawai'i. In Rarotonga A. stellata is known as Maire rākau, but on the outer islands maire unqualified is the general name for this species, and it is used for lei making in the same way as Hawai'i. On Ma'uke and some of the other outer islands in the Cooks maire leis are also exported to Hawai'i when supplies there are falling low.
Maire as a fragrant fern
 In Rarotonga maire is the general name for ferns, especially Microsorm grossum, a fragrant fern commonly found on the base of coconut and other trees, and illustrated in the gallery, below. Its fronds may be simple (especially when small) or lobed, 17 cm to a meter long, with stipes (leaf stalks) 5 - 70 cm long, shining deep green or brown to black. It occurs in forest margins and rocky outcrops as well as in open places near the coast -- it is the most commonly encountered fern in the Cook Islands. It is fragrant when crushed. Undeservedly (probably because it is so common) it is also grouped with miscellaneous ferns under the title of maire tūtae puaka "pig turd maire". There is more information about this fern on the page for Proto-Polynesian *Kiwa.
In Rarotonga maire kakara "fragrant maire" is the name given to Microsorum commutatum, a fragrant fern found natively from the Philippines to Polynesia and illustrated on the left. It has stout, greenish rhizomes and fragrant leaves, thanks to the coumarin content as with the Alyxia species. The fronds are of various sizes dependent on locality -- they my be up to 1.8 m long in very favourable locations, to less than 30 cm on open cliff faces. The shiny stipes are deep green to brown, 17 - 40 cm longM The fronds are divided into paired segments, usually 10 - 17 pairs per frond, with one terminal segment. It is another forest fern, although it is sometimes cultivated. Its crushed fronds are traditionally used to scent coconut oil, and also used in 'ei (leis) and religious ceremonies. This fern is also native to the Marquesas, and sometimes cultivated there in home gardens.
Maire Vai'ī -- The "Hawaiian Maire" Euodia hortensis
 Euodia hortensis is a strongly fragrant plant allegedly introduced to the Cook Islands from Hawai'i (according to its Rarotongan name) or Tahiti (it is known as Maire Tahiti in Mangaia). It was never naturalized in Hawai'i, and is known to be a Polynesian introduction (it is native to Papua New Guinea and Melanesia) at least as far as Niue, and probably as far as the Cook Islands. The foreign origin may have been attributed simply because the shrub seems never to have been common, and plants may have been imported by horticulturalists when it had faded from the local scene.
Euodia hortensis is a small aromatic shrub or tree up to 3 m high, with long, slender pungent leaves up to 20 cm long by 1.5 cm wide (var. simplifolia) or 25 cm by 6 cm (var, hortensis). It is known as uhi in Tonga and Niue and usi in Samoa, and has long been widely cultivated in Western Polynesia. It is thought to be repulsive to ghosts, and is used for treating ailments thought to be caused by evil spirits (in baths, by steaming, or through massage). It is also used for scenting coconut oil, and in Samoa made into garlands (which may also have prophylactic effects).
W.R. Sykes notes (Flora, p. 832) that: "The aroma is very pervasive and although regarded as very pleasant by Polynesian peoples and sometimes used in decorations for this reason, other peoples often find it to be extremely nauseating".
Maire in the Bible
Unusually for Polynesiam plant names, which (except for Māori) are rarely used in biblical translations, reflexes of Proto-Polynesian *maile are used in the Niuean and Rarotongan translations of the Bible to represent hadas, the Hebrew word denoting the common myrtle, Myrtus communis, important ceremonially and as a symbol of peace and tranquility. In Niuean, maile occurs only in two passages in Isaiah; in the other four occurrences of hadas (in the books of Nehemia and Zecharaiah) a Niuean approximation of the Hebrew word is used. The Rarotongan translations are consistent -- all occurrences of hadas are translated by maire. In Tahitian (as also in Samoan) a local adaptation of the Hebrew word is used.
Māori: He tataramoa i mua, ka puta ake he kauri; he tumatakuru i mua, ka puta ake he ramarama ....
Rarotongan: E kauonoia oki te rakau taratara i te berusi; e kauonoia te tataramoa ki te maire
Niuean: Te tupu hake e perosi ke totokiaki e akau fotofoto; te tupu hake e maile ke totogi aki e akau mangiiho ...
Tahitian: E monohia te raau taratara i te berusi; e monohia hoi te tataramoa i te hedesa ....
Engish: Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle.... [GNB]
Māori also uses kauri to translate the Hebrew berosh (a generic name for several species of cypress and fir trees), wheras the other Polynesian translations use local adaptations of the Hebrew word.
There is an extended discussion of the way plant names are translated in different versions of the Bible on the page for ramarama, the Māori name for a shrub (Lophomyrtus bullata) closely related to the Middle Eastern myrtle and a surrogate for that plant in Biblical translations in Māori.
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