Read this article in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi
Several plants in Hawaiʻi are named ʻohe and they are mostly in different families. Trying to figure out which ʻohe one is talking about can be a bit confusing. Is it the bamboo? The tree whose wood was fashioned into stilts? The forest grass (mauʻu) ʻohe? Another ʻohe? Which?
I choose the mauʻu ʻohe (Isachne distichophylla). Mauʻu ʻohe is endemic to all our moku, except Niʻihau and Kahoʻolawe. It prefers windward slopes where it mostly grows on forest floors, and can be up to three feet tall. Neither showy or scented, we donʻt know of a particular use for this ʻohe, though birds, some now-extinct, likely enjoyed the seeds. If youʻve handled plants of ʻohe Hawaiʻi (Polynesian bamboo), youʻll remember that the lau can be sharp-edged and the sheaths that fall off stems can provoke itchiness when handled. Mauʻu ʻohe has similar characteristics.