The Ti plant is most closely associated with Polynesia, its starchy rhizomes, which are very sweet when the plant is mature, were eaten as food or as medicine, and its leaves were used to thatch the roofs of houses, and to wrap and store food. The plant or its roots are referred to in most Polynesian languages as tī. Variants include kī (Hawaiʻian), sī (Tongan), and ʻautī (Tahitian). Ti leaves were also used to make items of clothing including skirts worn in dance performances. The Hawaiʻian hula skirt is a dense skirt, an opaque layer of at least 50 green leaves with the bottom (top of the leaves) shaved flat. The Tongan dance dress, the sisi, is an apron of about 20 leaves, worn over a tupenu, and decorated with some yellow or red leaves (see picture at Māʻuluʻulu).In ancient |
