Ogo seaweed

Several species of limu are used as food throughout Polynesia and is typically eaten raw as accompaniment to meals, usually fish. In Hawaii, limu was seen as a major ogo seaweed of the Hawaiian diet alongside fish and poi. Hawaiians cultivated several varieties of seaweed for food as well as to feed fish farmed within fish ponds.

Limu was used in hoʻoponopono, the ancient Hawaiian process of conflict resolution. It is also used in traditional hula attire and as medicine. Later diced raw with poke, mixed with chili and salt. Shares its name with a native butterfly and a family of nudibranchs.

Limu has become increasingly difficult to find because of over-picking, pollution, and urban development, especially construction in watersheds. Many important kinds of limu grow best in brackish water where fresh water empties into the sea. Lā’au Hawai’i: Traditional Hawaiian Uses of Plants. Marine Green and Brown Algae of the Hawaiian Islands. Limu: Seaweed, mosses and algae of polynesia”. Te Māra Reo: The Language Garden.