Hala Fruit

A fruit that looks like a paint brush

Hala fruit grows in dramatic clusters of fan-shaped segments — each segment a distinct fibrous wedge that can be pulled off individually. The whole fruit looks like a child’s giant tropical paintbrush or a geometric grenade.

The plant itself, a Pandanus (screw pine), grows on stilt-like prop roots above sandy beaches and atolls — one of the most distinctive silhouettes of Pacific island shorelines.

Edible only in some places

A surprising fact: hala fruit is not eaten in most of its growing range. In Hawaii, Tahiti, and Fiji, the fruit is considered virtually inedible — too fibrous, the flesh too sparse to bother extracting. Hawaiian hala is used mainly for lei and decoration.

But in the Marshall Islands, Kiribati, and Pohnpei, hala is a major traditional staple. The segments are pressed, cooked, and processed into pastes and flours that store well — historically critical on atolls where soil-grown crops are scarce.

Marshallese hala flour

Marshall Islanders developed elaborate techniques for converting hala into flour and preserved food. The segments are roasted, pressed, dried, and ground — a multi-step process passed down through generations.

The resulting flour (called mokwan or jaibo) keeps for years and traditionally provided staple calories during long voyages or droughts on atolls where coconut and breadfruit might fail.

A floss and a tool

The fibrous segments of hala have non-food uses: cleaned and dried, they make natural dental floss, paint brushes, and small tools. Pacific Islander tradition uses every part of the Pandanus tree — leaves for weaving, roots for medicine, bark for cordage, fruit for food and tools.

The leaves (similar to but distinct from culinary pandan) are central to traditional Pacific weaving — mats, baskets, hats, and roof thatch.