Mai`a

There are more than 50 varieties of Mai`a, commonly called the banana. This edible year-round fruit tree is native to the tropics is an essential to Pacific island life. It is said to have originated in India. Other names for the banana include: Fa'i (Samoan), Keeprañ (Marshallese), Saging (Philippines), and Ndizi (Swahili).

Folklore around the Mai`a includes saying that the plant grew in the garden of Eden. One Hawaiian legend tells the story of the brother of the fire goddess, Pele bringing the banana to Hawai`i from Tahiti.

The fibrous trunks can grow up to 20' high with a circumference of about 8" composed of overlapping leaf bases (sheaths). A cross section of the succulent trunk reveals the layers like an onion. Mai`a leaves are spirally arranged, rising from the trunk. The green leaf stems are waxy in appearance with thick, smooth large blades usually 4' or more long and 1'-2' wide.

Flower clusters appear after the tree reaches maturity. The purplish dewdrop shaped swollen bud stems from a thick drooping stem, from the center of the plant and Male flowers are located at the tip of the stem with female flowers at the base. The flowers set fruit without pollination and then drop their purple leathery petals one by one. It takes about a year for the plant to produce mature fruit of several rows, or hands of bananas.

A Hawaiian proverb: `A `ohe hua o ka mai`a i ka la ho`okahi . "Bananas do not fruit in a single day." This teaches that patience is needed for the fruit to grow. (Mary Kawena Pukui)

Traditional Cultural and Medicinal Usages

• Leaves and trunks were used for wrapping and transporting other plants. The fiber from the leaf sheath could be used as thread for thatching and other tying needs
• Medicinally, the ripe fruit of Mai`a is used for asthma
• Fruit can be boiled and mashed for constipation
• Flower bud nectar sap has been used to strengthen babies, for stomach problems and to dye tapa cloth
• It is believed to be bad luck to dream of bananas, to meet someone who carries them, or to bring them on a fishing trip. Mai`a is said to be the kinolau, the body form of Kanaloa, the Hawaiian god of healing.
• Other Pacific Island uses include treating toothaches to hernias