| *Fausele [Possibly Proto Polynesian; definitely Proto Eastern Polynesian] |
Houhere |
Hoheria populnea, & Hoheria glabrata (Malvaceae) |
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Alternative names: houhi, houī, whauwhi, from Proto-Polynesian *Fau; hoihere, variant of houhere; houhi ongaonga, ongaonga, from Proto-East Central Pacific *Hongahonga. |
ETYMOLOGY:
From Proto (Eastern) Polynesian *Fausele Hibiscus species (Malvaceae) or similar tree with fibre useful for lashing. |
Flowers of Houhere, Hoheria populnea
Te Māra Reo
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Flowers of Mountain Lacebark, Houhere, Hoheria glabrata
Te Anau Downs (Photo: Gillian Crowcroft) |
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COGNATE WORDS IN SOME OTHER POLYNESIAN LANGUAGES
Niuean: Fou hele (Abutilon indicum, Malvaceae)
Marquesan Hau he'e, Fau fe'e (Hibiscus tiliaceus v sterilis, Malvaceae)
Hawaiian: Hauhele (Hibiscus arnottianus, Malvaceae); Hauhele wai (Hibiscus furcellatus); Hauhele 'ula (Kokia spp.); ma'o hau hele (H. brackenridgei)
Rarotongan: auere (Grewia crenata, Tiliaceae)
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RELATED MĀORI PLANT NAMES
whau (Entelia arborescens, Tiliaceae); ongaonga (Urtica ferox, Urticaceae)
Note: See the other linked page/s (highlighted at the top of this page) for more information about the ancestral names, their modern descendents, and the plants they denote. |
Watch this space! This is a page still very much under construction, but which contains the essential linguistic and botanical information, along with some pictures, and to which more text will be added as soon as time permits. See the "News" for February 2016 for more information.
There are further notes on the etymology of this plant name on the page for the Proto Eastern Polynesian word *fausele which gave rise to it (link at the top of this page). The Rarotongan "reflex" is slightly suspect, and the Niuean one highly so. |
| References and further reading: See linked pages and general works on NZ trees in the bibliography. Hoheria populnea and H. glabrata are both described in the NZPC Network pages. |
Photographs: The photograph of Hoheria glabrata is used by permission of Gillian Crowcroft and that of H. populnea showing the seedpods by permission of Jonathan Boow, both of the NZ Plant Conservation Network. The others are by R.B. (Te Māra Reo).
Houhere, Hoheria populnea, Te Māra Reo
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Houhere, Hoheria populnea
Waitakere Ranges, Auckland. Note five-winged fruits.
Photograph (c) Jonathan Boow |
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