Canoe plants

Canoe plants or Polynesian introductions are plants taken from ancient Polynesia and transplanted to several different islands in the Pacific, covering an area of about 120,000 square miles. Sometime around 1,700 years ago, Polynesian explorers reached Hawai'i, bringing a variety of plants necessary for their survival and well-being.

The following species are generally considered to be canoe plants in Hawai'i:

*"Aleurites moluccana" (kuku'i or candlenut)
*"Alocasia macrorrhiza" (giant taro or elephant ear)
*"Artocarpus altilis" (breadfruit)
*"Bambusa vulgaris" (giant bamboo)
*"Broussonetia papyrifera" (paper mulberry)
*"Calophyllum inophyllum"
*"Cocos nucifera" (coconut)
*"Colocasia esculenta" (taro or kalo)
*"Cordia subcordata" (tou or kou)
*"Cordyline terminalis" (ti or ki)
*"Curcuma domestica" (turmeric)
*"Dioscorea alata" (a variant of yam)
*"Eugenia malaccensis" (malay apple or mountain apple)
*"Hibiscus tiliaceus" (hau)
*"Ipomoea batatas" (sweet potato)
*"Lageneria siceraria" (calabash)
*"Morinda citrifolia" (noni)
*"Musa spp." (banana)
*"Pandanus odoratissimus" (hala)
*"Piper methysticum" (kava)
*"Saccharum officinarum" (sugar cane)
*"Schizostachyum glaucifolium" (bamboo)
*"Tacca leontopetaloides"
*"Thespesia populnea" (milo)
*"Touchardia latifolia"
*"Zingiber zerumbet" ('awapuhi)

Though recent studies have shown that some of the above (such as "Pandanus odoratissimus" and "Cordia subcordata") actually predate human arrival, similar or additional varieties could also have been transported by Polynesians.

External links

* [http://pvs.kcc.hawaii.edu/migrationsplants.html Polynesian Voyaging Society - Plants Introduced to Hawai'i by the Ancestors of the Hawaiian People]
* [http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050926/COLUMNISTS03/509260323/1121/NEWS Honolulu Advertiser - Kou tree predates voyagers] (article no longer there Jul 5, 2007))
* [http://www.nokaoimagazine.com/article.aspx?issue=10_5&article_name=Seeds_across_the_Seas "Seeds Across the Seas"] Article about Hawaiian canoe plants Maui No Ka 'Oi Magazine Vol.10 No.5 (Nov. 2006).