Psilotum nudum

Description:

Moa or Upright whiskfernPsilotaceae (Whiskfern family)Indigenous to the Hawaiian Islands (All the main islands and Midway Atoll)Photo: Honolulu, OahuMedicinally, moa (Psilotum spp.) was used by the early Hawaiians for kkae paa (constipation) in newborn babies and elderly men and women. It was also mixed with other plants to treat akepau (tuberculosis, consumption), and various respiratory conditions. Additionally, extracts from moa were used as laxatives. The spores were used for diarrhea in infants and used like talcum powder to prevent chafing from loincloths called malo.Moa was also used in lei making by early Hawaiians.Early Hawaiian children would play a simple game of moa nahele (lit., chicken vegetation). "Plants in Hawaiian Culture" explains how this game was played: Two children sat or stood facing one another, each holding a branched stem of moa. These they interlocked and then slowly pulled apart until the branches of one broke. The other child, without broken branches, was the winner and announced his victory by crowing like a rooster (moa). One of the names o moa in fact means "cock's crow."EtymologyThe generic name is from the Greek psilos, naked or smooth, alluding to the smooth aerial stems without leaves.The specific epithet is from the Latin nudus, bare or naked, in reference to the naked nature of the stems.nativeplants.hawaii.edu