[Hawaiian, = general Polynesian ti.] A liliaceous plant, Cordyline terminalis, found in China and the islands of the Pacific, of which the root is baked and eaten in the Sandwich Islands; the fermented juice yields an intoxicating drink.
1860. Merc. Marine Mag., VII. 295. A kind of liquor, called okolehau.… It is a deadly stuff, expressed from the ki root.
1889. Tablet, 18 May, 762/2. Drinking fermented ki-root beer, home made alcohol.
