Māmaki Herbal Tea

Māmaki (Pipturus albidus) is a native and endemic plant to the Hawaiian islands, and it belongs to the Urticaceae family, commonly known as nettles. Unlike its relatives, māmaki evolved in Hawaiʻi with a lack of predators, which resulted in it losing its stinging defensive hairs.

 

It thrives in the understory of Hawaiʻi's wet and mesic forests, growing between 200 to 6,000 feet in elevation, and has a very important pilina (relationship) with two native pulelehua (butterflies). It serves as the host plant for the native Kamehameha (Vanessa tameamea) and Koa (Udara blackburni) butterflies.

 

A female Kamehameha butterfly will find a māmaki shrub to lay its eggs. When the eggs hatch into a caterpillar, the caterpillar will curl itself up into leaf creating a little tent to protect itself. In the process, it'll eat away at its tent, until itʻs ready to move on.

For centuries, Native Hawaiians have valued māmaki for its therapeutic properties. The leaves were traditionally brewed into an herbal tea using the leaves of the plant. This was done by steeping the leaves in an ipu (gourd), fresh wai (water), and adding hot pōhaku (stones) to steep. While the wood, roots, and bark were used for making tools, dye, and kapa (a traditional Hawaiian fabric).