popolo

Definition

black nightshade (Solanum nigrum).

Etymology

Borrowed from Hawaiian pōpolo from Proto-Polynesian *polo; cognate with Māori poroporo and pōporo (Solanum aviculare), Tongan polo (“Solanum nigrum”) and Tuvaluan 'opolo (“capsicum”). Skin color meaning comes from analogy to the color of its berries.

Example Sentences

• "The only lack of Kalelealuaka and his comrades was animal food (literally fish) but they supplied its place as well as they could with such herbs as the tender leaves of the popolo, which they cooked like spinach, and with inamona made from the roasted nuts of the kukui tree."
• "Popolo is a branching green herb with a tendency to being woody at the base. This annual grows one to three feet high on cultivated land and is regarded as a common weed."
• "This mite was collected at the Maui Community College agricultural field (Kahului) on popolo berry on 19 July 1995 by C. McGrath."