A grass skirt is a costume and garment made with layers of plant fibres such as grasses and leaves that is fastened at the waistline.
Kini Kapahu Wilson and fellow hula dancer wearing grass skirts at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago
South sea islander wearing a liku
Maori cultural group performing, wearing piupiu c. 1943
People of Nauru wearing traditional, short grass skirts called ridi, c. 1914
Cordyline fruticosa is an evergreen flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae. The plant is of great cultural importance to the traditional animistic religions of Austronesian and Papuan peoples of the Pacific Islands, New Zealand, Island Southeast Asia, and Papua New Guinea. It is also cultivated for food, traditional medicine, and as an ornamental for its variously colored leaves. It is identified by a wide variety of common names, including ti plant, palm lily, cabbage palm.
Image: Cordyline fruticosa (20262433874)
Image: Starr 030405 0072 Cordyline fruticosa habit Makawao Forest Reserve Maui (24261783289)
Specimens in Maui
Green specimen