Fragrant maile you never have to part from

Maile is a native Hawaiian plant that is famous worldwide for its uses. Here are some fun facts to know about maile:

10 Facts about Maile

1. Maile has multiple varieties namely: maile hai wale, maile lau lii, maile lau nui, maile kaluhea, maile pakaha. Each of these words describes the variety and you can look up what each means on wehewehe.org
2. Maile can grow to be a pretty shrub or vine based on the environment it is given. Our maile plant in our office is a cute little shrub right now and is actually doing really well indoors.
3. Maile is a favorite in lei making because of its sweet smell. It gets its smell from Coumrin - a colorless crystalline solid that smells like vanilla, but serves as a chemical defense against predators.
4. Maile lei are made by removing the inner stems of the vines and then twirling them together. Nipuu or Hipuu is a knotting method in which leaf stems were knotted together to make a long lei.
5. Sacred to hula, maile is a lei commonly adorning dancers and their alters of worship.
6. Maile is a local lei must have for graduation, prom, and weddings.
7. Maile has many beautiful songs written about it. The first song that I learned on the ukulele is "A Maile Lei for Your Hair." My dad taught it to me as a young girl and I still remember it! His dad taught it to him. It's a special song to me.
8. Maile was used by Hawaiians to treat cuts, injuries, and abscesses.
9. Maile was used to give tapa a nice scent.
10. Though varieties of maile are indigenous and endemic to Hawaii, most maile today comes from Cooke Islands.