purau
(ˈpuːraʊ)
Also purao, puro(w).
[Tahitian.]
A small evergreen tree, Hibiscus tiliaceus, belonging to the family Malvaceæ, native to littoral regions of the tropics, and bearing pale yellow flowers fading to deep red; also, the light wood or the fibre produced by this tree; = mahoe1 1 b. Also attrib.
| 1790 W. Bligh Narr. Mutiny on Bounty 49 The trees that came within our knowledge were the manchineal and a species of purow. [1865 B. Seemann Flora Vitiensis 18 H[ibiscus]..tiliaceus... Nomen vernac... Tahitiense, teste Solander, ‘Purau’.] 1892 Stevenson & Osbourne Wrecker 2 In the whole length of the single shoreside street, with its grateful shade of palms and green jungle of puraos, no moving figure could be seen. 1894 ― Ebb-Tide i. 2 At the far end of the town of Papeete, three such men were seated on the beach under a purao-tree. 1907 J. Masefield Tarpaulin Muster iv. 68 Some said it was the leaf of the puro bush. 1933 Jrnl. Polynesian Soc. XLII. 306 The purau appears to be a native of most of the islands of the Pacific. 1952 R. Finlayson Schooner came to Atia v. 29 Where was he going there under the dark purau trees. 1959 L. M. Noble in A. H. McLintock Descr. Atlas N.Z. 82/2 The traditional rectangular hut with gable roof constructed of purau sticks and palm leaves is still common [in the Cook Islands]. |