Freycinetia arborea, Ieie, is a densely branched, brittle, woody climber in the family Pandanaceae, endemic to the Pacific Islands. Ieie is found in moist forest on the Hawaiian, Marquesas, Austral, Society, and Cook Islands. It grows into the forest canopy, attaching itself to a host tree using aerial roots. It may also grow as a sprawling tangle on the forest floor. The name originates from Proto-Oceanic *kiRekiRe reflected in other Freycinetia plants with related names across Polynesia: ieie in Tahiti refers to Freycinetia demissa while New Zealand's Freycinetia banksii is the kiekie. The shiny green leaves have pointed ends and are spiny on the lower side of the midrib and along the edges. Leaves measure 40 - 80 cm long and 1 - 3 cm wide, and are spirally arranged around the ends of branches. Flowers form on spike-like inflorescences at the end of branches, and are either staminate or pistillate. Staminate spikes are yellowish-white and up to 10 cm in length. Pistillate spikes are 3 - 4 cm but elongate to 7.5 - 9.5 cm once fruit are produced. Three to four spikes are surrounded by orange-salmon bracts. Fruit is 1 cm long and contains many 1.5 mm seeds. The bracts and fruit of the ieie were a favorite food of the ōū (Psittirostra psittacea), an extinct Hawaiian honeycreeper that was formerly a principal seed dispersal vector for plants with small seeded, fleshy fruits in low elevation forests. It is also a favored food of the alalā (Corvus hawaiiensis), which is currently extinct in the wild.

Uses

Native Hawaiians plaited ieie into hīnai hoomoe ia (fish baskets), hīnai hooluuluu (fish traps). The vine (or rather the split aerial roots) also became the framework for helmets worn by the alii (mahiole ie).