This is a common plant at lower elevations in damp areas and stream beds. Stalks arise from large, knobbed underground stems (rhizomes) which have a whitish flesh. The flower head consists of greenish red to bright red overlapping bracts, with small short-lived, white flowers emerging between them (see below).
The mature flower is full of a sudsy, aromatic, slippery fluid, something like a hair conditioner. Hawaiians used this aromatic fluid as a skin and hair treatment. The dried powdered rhizome was used as a fragrance in kapa.
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