Before You Buy: Primer on the Language of Leis

In keeping with the Aloha tradition, many travelers expect to receive leis when they arrive in Hawaii. Sadly, lei giving is no longer done as a matter of course. Most tourists on package tours still get them upon arrival. But as Americans become more familiar with Hawaii, they are exploring the islands individually and are missing out on the experience of receiving the garlands of flowers when they arrive.

Yet to miss out on the flower tradition is to bypass a part of Hawaiian culture. The answer, then, is to select and purchase a lei yourself. There are many types to choose from.

“Flowers are appreciated everywhere in the world and are used in different ways by different cultures, but in Hawaii, flowers are unique because everything has a meaning,” said Barbara Meheula, lei maker and flower arranger on the Big Island of Hawaii.

“Flowers are used in a love affair, or to express sadness or mourning, or to express happiness. You go to a Hawaiian funeral, you see leis. Leis are worn at graduations and weddings. Almost any occasion calls for a lei.”

Hawaiian culture dictates that leis be used on a variety of occasions . . . and not necessarily as a form of greeting.

“Tourists expect leis to be placed around their necks, and to be kissed on either cheek. This would not be done in the true Hawaiian tradition,” Meheula said.

But as promoted by the tourist industry, Meheula said, leis received upon arrival in Hawaii are usually single strand garlands made of frangipani, which grows like wildfire on all of the islands. It is fragrant and fragile and one of the least expensive flowers. Leis made of frangipani cost from $4 to $7 each.

Traditionally, leis are presented wrapped in ti leaves or another cooling leaf to keep them fresh until they are worn. The lei is not unwrapped until it is needed.

Meheula, lei-maker and flower arranger at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, is considered an authority on the meaning of different flowers in Hawaiian tradition and on the appropriate occasions for their use. Leis, she said, represent rank, emotion and superstition, and unofficial rules about lei-giving are strictly observed by Hawaiians.

For example, the hala lei, made from the yellow-orange fruit of the pandanus tree, is worn primarily during the New Year holiday to signify good luck, cleansing and new beginnings.

It is also given in celebration of a new business endeavor, such as the opening of a store or to indicate mourning at a funeral. But should it be offered at other times, it is interpreted as meaning that the giver wishes the receiver bad luck. Hala leis are available year-round for about $25.

Further, each island has its own special flower. On Oahu, for example, illima is the official lei-making bloom. Illima are tiny, fragile flowers with paper-thin petals and almost no fragrance. Illima leis customarily consist of four to six strands, at a cost of about $30. (It takes about 1,000 flowers to make a single strand.)

The official lei of the Big Island is one made of the lehua blossom--said to be the first flower to rise from the lava after a volcanic eruption. Tradition has it that lehua is the flower of Pele, goddess of fire.

The flower, which consists of many little pistols surrounded by silver green leaves, is said to have originally bloomed in white only, but, according to legend, yellow-orange blossoms were created after Pele, in a jealous rage, killed her sister. Pele’s tears of remorse colored some of the blossoms and it now is thought that when yellow-orange blossoms bloom, it will rain. Lehua leis are associated with strength and a 15-strand lei costs about $20.

On the island of Kauai, the characteristic lei is made from mokihana, a pale green, sweet-smelling flower with a berry-like shape.

On Maui, pink roses are used to make the delicate lokelani lei. Since the law forbids export of roses from Hawaii, lokelani leis may only be worn on the islands.

Specific occasions require leis of particular flowers.

Each member of a Hawaiian wedding party, for example, must wear a lei dominated by one flower. The bride’s lei is made of pikake (about $25 per lei), the flower of romance.

It is a soft white, sweet-smelling and fragile bloom. Pikake was the favorite flower of Hawaii’s beloved Princess Kaiulani, who named the bloom after her favorite bird, the peacock.

For brides, leis are made of pikake flowers woven together with maile, a pungent-smelling vine that grows wild in Hawaii’s rain forests. Maile symbolizes strength and unity through growth.

The groom’s lei is made mostly of maile (about $25 per lei) trimmed with pikake.

Mothers of the bride and groom wear leis made of puakenikeni (about $10 per strand), strongly perfumed blossoms that are larger and fuller in look than the delicate pikake worn by the bride.

Maile is also used in leis worn by hula dancers. The leaves are associated with Laki, the goddess of dance, and are thought to contain movement.

Orchids that grow in profusion in the gardens of Hawaii are used for decorative leis, but are not associated with Hawaiian legend. Still, the pale lavender blossoms of the vanda orchid, introduced to Hawaii during the 1930s, have come to symbolize the islands in the minds of many mainlanders. Orchid leis travel well and cost about $5 per strand.

Anniversaries, birthdays and some religious holidays, especially Easter Sunday, are celebrated with fragrant white or yellow ginger blossoms (about $20 per strand).

And certain leis are worn only by men. Kika, the “cigar lei,” is made from tiny red and orange blossoms shaped like miniature cigars.

More than 3,000 flowers are used to make kika leis which cost about $25. Kikuna-O-Ka-La’s orange spiky petals are also thought to be masculine. This bloom grows on mangrove trees in the swamps and costs about $6 per strand.

Frangipani, orchid, carnation and other common leis can be purchased at most florists, including those at airports for about $6 per strand.

More exotic leis need to be ordered a day or two in advance. It may be necessary to contact several florists before finding one that can accommodate a special order.