From PROTO MALAYO POLYNESIAN *Fau, "Hibiscus tiliaceus" + PROTO POLYNESIAN -*qui, a suffix or particle indicating difference, possibly also a grey or green colouring;
through *Fauqui, "Grewia prunifolia";

Proto Polynesian: *Fauqui
REFLEXES IN SOME POLYNESIAN LANGUAGES:
Tongan: Fo'ui (Grewia prunifolia, Malvaceae)
Samoan: Fau ui (Grewia prunifolia, Malvaceae)
Māori: Houhi, Houi (Houheria populnea & H. glabrata, also Plagianthus regius & P. divaricatus, Malvaceae); Whauwhi (Hoheria populnea); Houi ongaonga Hoheria populnea & H. sextylosa, Malvaceae); Houi puruhi (Hoheria angustifolia, Malvaceae)

RELATED WORDS
PROTO POLYNESIAN *Fau (< Proto Austronesian *baRu, Proto Oceanic *paRu, Proto Eastern Oceanic *vaRu), Hibiscus tiliaceus (Māori - Whau), and
PROTO POLYNESIAN *Fausele (Māori - Houhere), "Hibiscus-like trees with inner bark useful for lashing".

The plants sharng this name are part of the "Fau network", species of shrubs and trees that like the Proto-Polynesian *Fau (Hibiscus tiliaceus, the "beach hibiscus") have a netted inner bark useful for a variety of purposes, from making rope to straining coconut milk. They all incorporate a reflex of the term *Fau in their local names. Apart from the beach hibiscus, the best known member of this set is probably the Houhere, Hoheria populnea, endemic to Aotearoa but since the late nineteenth century widely grown in Great Britain, where it has proved well able to withstand the rigours of even the Scottish climate.. This species has many horticultural variants, selected mainly for their foliage. The most widely distributed natively in the Pacific (again, apart from the beach hibiscus) is the Fau ui, Grewia prunifolia, ranging from Vanuatu to the Marianas Islands, New Caledonia, Tonga and Samoa to Rarotonga, the Society Islands and the Tuamotus.

*Fauqui in Tropical Polynesia: Grewia prunifolia

Grewia prunifolia was originally given that name in 1854 by Asa Gray, an American botanist who travelled with the US Exploratory Expedition to the Pacific. It was later referred to as Grewia crenata, and placed in the family Tiliaceae or Sparrmanniaceae. Those families have now been merged with the Malvaceae, and the original specific name restored. In New Caledonia, the same species has been known as Grewia persicifolia until recently. In Rarotonga the plant is known as 'au'ere, a reflex of the related Proto Eastern Polynesian word *Fausele, and is mentioned also on the page for that name.

Grewia prunifolia is a small tree found in lowland and costal forests in its native habitats. It grows from 6-10 metres with toothed, oval leaves tapering at the tips, 5-20 cm long, with short stems, alternating on the branchlets. The leaves are light green with veins visible. The flowers have five distinct white petals -- more correctly, sepals -- arranged evenly around a cluster of yellow stamens. (In the enlarged photo in the gallery below you can see the very much smaller true petals nestling between the bases of the sepals). The fruit is a black berry about 5 mm in diameter, occasionally eaten by children in Samoa, where it is certainly a useful tree. The wood is one of those used for cross beams in Samoan houses; it is also one of the woods used for starting fires by friction. The fibrous inner bark was once used for plaiting hats. In the Cook Islands it is widely distributed in forested areas in Rarotonga, but nowhere common, and, unlike in Samoa, not very well known. This is also the case in Tahiti; Art Whistler's Annotated List gives its former name there as possibly haupā, and other possible former names as ma'o, ma'oma'o, matiatia and tohoi.

*Faui in Aotearoa: Hoheria and Plagianthus species

The lacebarks Hoheria polulnea, H. lyalii and H. glabrata are discussed in detail on the page for the Māori word "houhere". They are similar in apearance and habit of growth to the other Hoheria species described here. The two species of Plagianthus which share the names Houhi and Houi differ radically from each other in general appearance, their inflorescences are similar and strikingly different from those of their Hoheria cousins. Both genera are endemic to Aotearoa and the Hoheria and Plagianthus species are closely related to each other, sharing the characteristic netted inner bark, and used for similar purposes -- making cordage, nets, summer clothing, bark cloth and firewood.. Plagianthus regius is referred to as Plagianthus betulinus in many older publications. The Hoheria flowers however are entire (bisexual), whereas the Plagianthus species bear male and female flowers on separate trees.

Hoheria sexstylosa (Houhi ongaonga)

This is a small tree (up to about 8m high) with a trunk up to about 30 cm in diameter and smooth, grey-brown bark. It grows naturally in lowland and lower montane areas south of Auckland and in the Northern South Island. The tree has long, narrow leaves, like the one pictured at left. They are up to 15 x 5 cm, dark green above and lighter green underneath, with sharply-pointed serrations, reminiscent of those of the ongaonga -- the tree nettle, Urtica ferox, hence the qualifying epithet for this and some other species. Elsdon Best (TNZI 1907, p. 209) reported that among the Tūhoe the Houhi ongaonga was regarded as the trandformed mature form of Urtica ferox.

The flowers are comparatively small (about 2 cm in diameter) with pink styles (the stalks supporting the pollen receptors and connecting them to the ovaries).

Young plants have drooping branches and smaller leaves. There is a more oval-leaved variety found in forests in Northwest Nelson.

Hoheria angustifolia (Houhi puruhi)

This is quite a tall tree (up to 10 m.) but has much smaller leaves (2-5 cm long) than other species of Hoheria. The flowers are also much smaller: about 8 mm in diameter with five equally-spaced petals. The serrations on the leaves of mature trees are very sharply pointed, as if they are tipped with spines. This tree is found from Taranaki and Hawkes Bay to Foveaux Strait, in lowland and lower montane forests, including swamp forests, up to 900 m. above sea level. It sometimes forms groves in foest margins, and hybridizes with H. lyallii and H. sexstylosa. The young trees are divaricated, with reddish stems which become dark brown or black when the tree assumes the slender adult form. The flowers carried on long stalks are produced in great abundance in Spring and Summer. They are followed by fruit consisting of 5-7 conspicuously winged segments.

The word puruhi is a term for a flea, and was applied to trees that were said to make birds thin. This tree may have earned the term because of its slender form and small leaves and flowers.

Plagianthus divaricatus (also known as mākaka and runa).

Plagianthus regius (also known as mānatu)

This is another deciduous tree, but often retains some of its leaves in the northern North Island. It grows to 15 m. tall with a trunk up to a metre wide. It is found from Awanui to Stewart Island, with a distinctive subspecies in the Chatham Islands. The juvenile trees have very small leaves (15 x 10 mm or less), sometimes oval in shape, gently tapered with rounded serrations. The mainland trees have a divaricating habit of growth in the juvenile stage not found in the Chatham Islands subspecies. When the young trees reach 2 m or so tall they begin to straighten out and develop tapered leaves 2 to 8 cm long, with sharply-pointed serrations. The trees grows naturally in lower montane areas and lowlands, especially on river flats and damp hollows in the forest. It has cascades of very small greenish flowers mid Spring to mid Summer. Once the male flowers have released their pollen they fall to the ground, leaving the female flowers on neighboring trees to produce dry, rounded yellowish fruits with one or two seeds.