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Polynesian Names: Kanava (ʻUvea, Futuna, Tokelau, Tuvalau); Kou (Hawaiʻi); Motou (Niue); Nawanawa (Fiji); Puataukanave (Tonga); Tauanave (Samoa); Tou (Society Islands, Cook Islands, Marquesas, Tuamotu) Boraginaceae Indigenous to the Hawaiian Islands Oʻahu (Cultivated)  Early Hawaiians certainly brought kou with them as one of the canoe plants since it is such a highly esteemed wood. Formerly thought to be exclusively a Polynesian introduction, a recent fossil site at Māhāʻulepū, Kauaʻi predates Polynesian arrival where kou samples were found and thus proving that kou is also an indigenous plant. The seeds are salt-water tolerate and disperse along coastal areas even on atolls where few other timber trees for wood can grow.  They were planted as a favorite shade tree around houses and by the seashore.  Kou was considered as one of the best woods for carvings along with the native koa (Acacia koa) and milo (Thespesia populnea), and the Polynesian introduced kamani (Calophyllum inophyllum).  Wooden food bowls (ʻumeke kou), cups, platters (pā kou), and calabashes were highly prized as the best of all woods because it did not impart a resinous flavor to the food such as koa and most other native woods.  The flowers were used for lei and young girls especially were fond of lei kou. They were always strung kui style (one behind the other).  The tasteless seeds were eaten in times of famine or occasionally by hungry children.  The leaves were used to stain fishing lines a light tan color. They used the aged leaves for a warm brown to red dye for kapa.  nativeplants.hawaii.edu/plant/view/Cordia_subcordata