All Polynesians planted and maintained their own gardens or plantations such as the one at the Polynesian Cultural Center, and kept domestic animals. The plantation often included non-edible plants grown for their flowers and leaves which Tahitians used for adornment and decoration.
Since contact with the western world, many plant species have been imported into Polynesia, while others - such as the breadfruit which originally brought Capt. Bligh and HMS Bounty to Tahiti - have been explored to other tropical climes. The Tahitian plantation includes:
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Bananas: Polynesians have possessed banana trees since time immemorial. Although they are grown for food, banana trees are also favored for their landscape value. Bananas are measured according to the number of "hands" or clusters on a bunch. Bananas are very nutritious and, of course, are eaten ripe; but they are also boiled or baked while still green and eaten more like a staple vegetable. Each banana tree yields only one harvest, after which the trunk is usually cut down and used in the ahima'a; otherwise, the trunk will rot. Banana leaves are also used for a variety of food preparation purposes. New banana trees offshoots grow out of the root of the old stump; or the root can be dug out, quartered, and each piece re-planted to grow into new banana trees.
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Tapioca or manioc: When tapioca roots reach the size of large yams, they are peeled for boiling, roasting, or steaming in the underground oven as a basic staple food in much of Polynesia. Cooked tapioca usually accompanies meat, fish or chicken. When the red-stemmed leaves are young and tender, they can be boiled as greens — twice in fresh water to remove the hydrocyanic acid which some varieties contain. In the process of making tapa or bark cloth, boiled tapioca roots are also rubbed over the beaten fibers to glue and paste the layers of bark cloth together. The tapioca used in puddings and for thickening sauces that many Americans and Europeans are familiar with comes from the cooked roots which are then processed for those purposes.
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Starfruit or carambola is an evergreen fruit tree native to Java. It is noted for its sweet/sour fruit, borne on the trunk and lower branches. Its name is derived from the pentagonal shape of the fruit formed by five ridges running from the base to the apex which, when sliced, are star-shaped. Its waxy skin turns to a translucent yellow when ripe. The texture is crisp and the flesh is juicy like an apple. Starfruit can be squeezed for juice, eaten plain, or sliced into fruit salad.
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Soursop is an evergreen from the West Indies with fragrant laurel-like leaves. The unusual fruit is prickly and kidney-shaped and weighs up to 6 pounds. Soursops are ready for picking when they grow to the size of a large grapefruit. Soursops are particularly delicious when made into a sherbet or juiced with lots of ice.
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Mango trees can grow to great heights. They are especially favored for their delicious golden-colored fruit and a single, stringy seed. The fruit has been described as a combination of a cantaloupe, peach, apricot and papaya. Mango is sometimes eaten green, or even cooked when green.
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Mountain Apple (or Malay Apple) grows wild in the shady, moist, protected valleys throughout Polynesia. It features beautiful pinkish-red flowers with short stems that grow directly from the trunk and main branches of the tree. The ripe fruit is shaped like small, shiny red pears but tastes like an apple with white, crispy, juicy flesh. When they are in season in Hawaii, mountain apples are sold from vehicles parked alongside the road, at the swap meets, or at local country stores.
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Noni (or Indian Mulberry) is an attractive medium-sized tree that easily grown from seeds. The young leaves can be cooked and eaten for their high vitamin A content. The fruit, which is bright green on the outside and white inside, somewhat resembles a washed Irish potato. Although it's edible, it's not recommended for eating. Most Polynesians use it for medicinal purposes. Tahitians also boil the roots to produce a yellow dye.
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Breadfruit or 'uru grows from a beautiful, tall tree with large tropical leaves. The green globe-shaped fruits are usually about the size of a cantaloupe but can grow up to eight pounds in weight. When boiled or baked, they taste like sweet potato rather than bread and are high in carbohydrates. On some islands, breadfruit grows year round, while there's a marked season in other islands, with one or more harvests a year. The fruit matures in approximately 6-8 months when it turns yellow-green and the "eyes" or squares on the skin surface smooth out and are covered with white sap. The ancient Polynesians learned long ago how to preserve breadfruit over long periods of time as food storage in case of famines, or for long ocean journeys.
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Sweet potato needs little attention to flourish, hence its popularity in the South Pacific where a harvest is ready about every 6 months. The roots are a basic root crop which are baked or boiled and the leaves and stems are cooked as vegetable greens. This plant is believed to have originated in the Americas. It continues to be cultivated in various Polynesian islands. Unlike regular potatoes, sweet potatoes are grown from slips: Polynesian tradition requires that three slips be planted per small mound of soil.
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Plumeria, a member of the periwinkle family with stiff blunt branches that are easily broken, are grown widely in warm climates for their thick waxy flowers with a pleasant, distinctive fragrance. Because the flowers are durable and remain fresh for a long time, especially the yellow varieties, they are used extensively for lei. They represent a warm welcome in both Tahiti and Hawaii.
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The tiare or star-shaped Tahitian gardenia is the official island flower of French Polynesia. This white flower is often mixed with coconut oil and used as a perfume by the Tahitians. The flowers are also woven into heipo'o headbands and lei. The tiare has has inspired many Tahitian artists: quilters use the designs for their traditional tifaifai quilts, song composers often mention its beauty in metaphor, and fabric designers use tiare motifs in the creation of their pareo [also spelled pareau in French] wrap-arounds and costumes.
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Shell ginger with its very generous bush of leaves is one of the most commonly grown members the ginger family. It is identified by the hanging clusters of pink shell-like buds which look like a stiff strand of closely strung seashells.
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Croton, a native to Malaysia and other Pacific Islands, is a very popular shrub because of its permanently colored leaves in red, pink, orange, yellow, gold, bronze and green. Crotons are admired for their almost limitless variety of shape, patterns and color. The colors are at their brightest growing in full sunlight. There are four main croton leaf shapes: linear, lance-shaped, oval and lobed; but all crotons belong to a single species even though there seems to be an limitless variety of them. The differences in shape, patterns and colors are due to horticultural variations.
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The kamani tree, called the Alexandrian laurel in some parts of the world, is native to India. It grows wild along the seashore and is very resistant to salt spray. The oval, reddish fruit contain nuts which produce oil much used by the ancient Hawaiians as mentioned in their chants. In Tahiti, where it is called autera'a, island men utilize the wood to make to'ere drums, regular drums, drum sticks, and tapa beaters. The branches are also used for firewood.
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Hau or the wild hibiscus is found throughout tropical Polynesia, usually near the beaches. It has the unusual habit of creeping and twisting along the ground instead of growing upright. As the branches continue interlocking, they eventually form jungles too thick to penetrate. It is frequently trained to grow over shelters and arbors to provide shade. Native Hawaiians used the curved branches of this tree to make outriggers for their canoes. During the course of a day, the flower color which begins a clear bright yellow changes to an apricot hue, which in turn changes to a final dark red. In Tahiti, where the wild hibiscus borders rivers, women braid the leaves together to form a thick, closely-woven mat to insulate the food in their earth ovens.
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Hibiscus: Pick a hibiscus and observe how the flowers follow a plan of five: 5 petals, 5 stigmas, and 5 lobes to the calyx. The yellow hibiscus is the state flower of Hawaii. Hibiscus are continuously used to decorate luaus, buffet tables and both women and men's hair. Many hibiscus grow throughout the Polynesian Cultural Center, especially in hedges of red, pink and white. Hibiscus flowers last only from sunrise to sunset.
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Bougainvillea, named after the 18th century French navigator and Pacific explorer, Count Louis de Bougainville, is known for its bright colors which range from the dark shades of purple, crimson, and orange to light pinks and whites. The flowers are actually tiny and inconspicuous, but it is the brilliantly-colored three-part bracts (a leaf-like plant part usually small but occasionally showy and sometimes brightly-colored, located either below a flower or on the stalk of a flower cluster) which brighten many gardens. Gardeners and guests must watch out for the bougainvillea's large thorns.
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Vanilla, which was imported into Polynesia in the early 1800's to develop cash crops for export, is a vine of the orchid family that grows best in interior valleys. The vines require five years after planting to produce a harvest of bean pods. In the commercial production of vanilla, farmers must hand pollinate each flower to insure pod production. Vanilla beans are cured and dried until the vanillin in the bean crystallizes on the outer edge. They are then packaged for overseas export to countries such as France, the United States, West Germany and Australia.
