Aloha, I can't answer all your questions about lei, though I'm sure each type flower has it's own significance or meaning. The words I Do know. "A hui ho" means 'til next time, or see you later. "malama pono" means to take great care or TLC. A hui ho, Leilaniguy

thanks for this...

Um, I believe the proper Hawaiian spelling is "a hui hou."

Aloha Blaze,

Some of the flowers are significant for various reasons. The red Ohia Lehua is sacred to Pele, I believe. Each island also has it's own particular lei flower. My friend's mom really disliked plumeria leis since she always saw plumeria growing in grave yards and she didn't want to think where the flowers had possibly come from. So, there are a lot of different reasons to make leis from different flowers and leaves. Generally, if I'm making a lei, it has more to do with the flowers available than anything else. If I'm buying a lei, I usually like one of the tuberose ones just because of the scent. Puakinikini is another lovely scented lei. Yellow plumeria seems to smell better than white plumeria, too. Maile lei are usually a more "formal" lei used for really important occasions. There are probably as many different reasons to choose different flowers to make leis from as there are different leis! It's all good.

A hui hou,
Cathy