Olonā is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. Wild clumps were called ōpū olonā by early Hawaiians. [7,10] The first discovery and use by early Hawaiians is unknown, but olonā became one of the few native plants extensively cultivated by them. [11] Because there were few places suitable for growing large areas for olonā, it was generally grown in small "plantations" or garden patches called olonā māla. A large cultivated patch, sometimes up to 2 acres or more, was called olonā kīhāpai. Cultivated areas with olonā were weeded. [7,10,11]

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As foreign ships arrived in Hawai‘i and began to trade, crews quickly noticed and commented on the local cordage. One seaman noted Native fishing lines “three to four hundred fathoms (1800 -2400 ft) long, and perfectly well made.” He continued that the lines he had purchased were “made with two, and others three strands, and much stronger than our lines of twice the size.” Indeed, the Native craftsmanship and inherent superiority of olonā cordage was to become widely known. During the 1870s, Swiss Alpine clubs eager to utilize the unusual strength and weatherproofing of the Hawaiian material purchased supplies of olonā cordage from King David Kalākaua.

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Propagation was accomplished by means of root shoots, rooted branches, cuttings called "slips," or seeds. [8,10] Another method was to take the 'old stalks or toppled stalks and bend them to the ground and covered with soil to promote rooting and lateral branching to form new stalks.' Under cultivation, the lateral branches were removed from upright stems to reduce the number of holes in the bast fiber. [7,10]

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Red-veined forms were preferred over green-veined forms perhaps due to stronger fibers. [8]

It took plants one year to 18 months to mature and stalks were woody. [7,11] At harvest time, the best stems taken were straight, about one or two inches thick and about ten feet tall. [10] Men, women and children shared in the harvest, but only women made the cordage. [11] Harvest and preparation techniques were thoroughly researched by Jenny Harvey of Swarthmore College. She notes: "The age of the olonā stalk made a difference in harvesting time. Plants around 18 months were preferred for netting because the bast fiber of older stalks is too knotty.

 

The bast layer was easily stripped off straight stalks with the fingers (Kamakau, 1976). Strips of bark were carried over the shoulder or rolled with the bark inside to flatten them out (Abbott, 1992). Most accounts report that the strips of bark were softened in water, sometimes running water, for a day or so, but natives interviewed by Dr. N. Russel (Smith, 1902) omit this step. Sheds were erected near olonā patches for scraping down the harvested bast fiber (Handy, 1972). Both sides of the bast fiber layer were scraped down on long, thin hardwood boards called lāʻau kahi olonā or papa olonā. The scraper was usually a sea shell, though later turtle bone from the plate of the shell was used. The scraper was sharpened frequently. Russel claims that scraping was completed in 1-2 minutes, leading him to advocate large scale production of the fiber-yielding plant. However, [Catherine] Summers (1990) implies that practice was required to master olonā scraping: only experts could scrape a few hundred strips in a day. The white ribbons of fibers (actually laticifers) remaining were separated with the fingernail, dried, and twisted into cordage by the women (Handy, 1972).