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Herbs & Cultures

Lāʻau lapaʻau in Hawaiʻi →

Cool ti leaves for a fever

Large, smooth ti leaves dipped in cold water and laid on the body: a lāʻau lapaʻau remedy for fever.

Traditional use

Time
10 minutes
Makes
1 time
Kī (ti plant)

Kī (ti) grows by nearly every house in Hawaiʻi; the leaves are seen as protective. According to the Hawaiʻi forestry division, drawing on the botanist Isabella Abbott (1992), the leaves were dipped in cold water to treat fever, and wrapped around warm stones as hot packs.

Ingredients

  • 4–6 large fresh ti leaves
  • A bowl of cold water

Step by step

  1. Wash the leaves and thin the hard midrib on the back a little if needed.
  2. Dip them in the cold water.
  3. Lay them on the forehead, the neck or around the arms and legs of the person with fever.
  4. Replace them when they get warm.

Tips

  • Ti leaves are sold in Europe for flower arrangements and cooking; use unsprayed leaves.

Registry

Herbs in this recipe

Read more about effects and safety on each herb’s page.

  • Caution

    Oceania · Herb · № 843

    Kī (ti plant)

    Cordyline fruticosa

    A plant with large leaves, used in Hawaiʻi for fever and headache and to wrap food.

    Lāʻau lapaʻau in Hawaiʻi

Cultures and traditions

Where the herbs come from

The herbs in this recipe also appear in these traditions.