by Austronesian peoples that voyaged across Southeast Asia and Oceania as a source of wood and fibre.

[4][5] This is reflected in the names of the plant as spoken in many related languages spoken in those regions including balibago (Tagalog), malobago (Bikol), malabago or malbago (Cebuano – Southern), maribago (Cebuano – Northern), lambago (Cebuano - Cagayan de Oro), waru (Sundanese & Javanese), varo (Malagasy), baru or bebaru (Malay), pagu (Chamorro), hau (Hawaiian), fau (Samoan), purau (Tahitian), and vau tree (Vietnamese).

[6] The specific epithet, "tiliaceus", refers to its resemblance of the leaves to those of the related Tilia species.

[11][1] Hibiscus tiliaceus can be found at elevations from sea level to 800 m (2,600 ft) in areas that receive 900–2,500 mm (35–98 in) of annual rainfall.

Plant fibers taken from the stems have traditionally been used in rope making,[17] while its bark has been used like cork, in sealing cracks in boats.

Native Hawaiians used the wood to make ʻiako (spars) for waʻa (outrigger canoes), mouo (fishing net floats), and ʻau koʻi (adze handles).

[18] Hau would be used to make ʻama (canoe floats) if the preferred wiliwili (Erythrina sandwicensis) was unavailable.

[19] Hibiscus tiliaceus is widely used in Asian countries, especially Taiwan, as a subject for the art of bonsai.

The undersides of the leaves are covered in downy hairs known technically as trichomes to which the mold Rhizopus oligosporus can be found adhering in the wild.