Chapter 3.11 Nut and fruit trees

Malcolm Ross

1. Introduction⇫

Arboriculture apparently played a role in Bismarcks food production long before the arrival of Austronesian speakers and the latter quite possibly acquired some of their arboriculture practices from Papuan speaking neighbours (chapter 2, §4). With the introduction of agriculture, garden and forest tended to overlap. Sometimes the garden would include food-bearing trees that survived from the primary forest, and sometimes food-bearing species would be planted in a garden or orchard or near to the village. At the same time, forest trees continued to be tended in situ and came to be owned by particular families.

Kennedy & Clarke (2004) and others have emphasised the cline that ranges from trees which grow wild in the bush to trees that are cultivated in orchards, with various degrees of tree-tending between the two extremes. Continuous cultivation entails domestication, i.e. ongoing control of reproduction and selection of varieties through the planting of ripe fruits or germinated seeds or through the transplanting of vigorous seedlings (Yen 1991). The resulting cultivars often have separate local names, whereas forest varieties generally do not. Walter & Sam (2002: 73-74) suggest that the geographic distribution of domesticated tree species reflects human settlement in the Pacific. As domesticated species they list the following: canarium nuts, Canarium spp., the Tahitian chestnut, Inocarpus fagifer, cutnuts, Barringtonia edulis, Barringtonia novae-hiberniae and Barringtonia procera, the Polynesian plum, alias golden apple, Spondias cytherea, the island lychee, Pometia pinnata, and the Malay apple, Syzygium malaccense. To this list Mueller-Dombois & Fosberg (1998: 56-57) add the dragon plum, Dracontomelon vitiense and Yen (1991) adds Burckella obovata. Paijmans (1976: 123-124) notes that in the New Guinea region Terminalia catappa and Terminalia kaernbachii are also often planted.

All are actively cultivated close to villages and have been subject to continuous selection. Often they grow interspersed with coconut palms and breadfruit trees (themselves both domesticated species) on a piece of land close to the village, along with recently introduced citrus species. Actual tending is minimal; young seedlings are protected from the sun, weeds are removed, dead or damaged branches are cut off and the tree is sometimes pruned to reduce its height (Walter & Sam 2002: 74–76).

The remainder of this chapter is organised as follows. First, domesticated nut trees are treated (§2), then domesticated fruit trees (§3), and finally trees that are regularly exploited for their fruit but are generally not domesticated (§4). The boundary around this last category is somewhat arbitrary. It includes trees which are often mentioned in the literature as sources of edible fruit. It excludes trees that are more often mentioned as having other uses: these include Morinda citrifolia, and various species of Diospyros, Macaranga and Garcinia, the fruits of which are all mentioned by Paijmans (1976: 124) as occasionally consumed. It also excludes those species of Ficus which have edible figs, as these are treated in ch.10, §4.

The trees investigated by Kennedy & Clarke (2004) in their examination of arboriculture include three that are considered among the staple foods in chapter 9: the banana plant (ch.9, §3), the breadfuit tree (ch.9, §4), and the sago palm (ch.9, §5.1). Another cultivated tree is Gnetum gnemon, the leaves of which serve as a green vegetable, treated in chapter 10, §2.3. These trees and plants are not considered further here, nor is the coconut palm, which is discussed in some detail in chapter 12. Instead, the focus of this chapter is nut- and fruit-bearing species that loom large in Bismarcks arboriculture.

2. Domesticated nut trees⇫

Ironically none of the genera considered in this section is a true nut, but agriculturalists writing about Pacific plants (Bourke 1996, Evans 1999) call them nuts and it is convenient to retain this usage. Botanically nuts are single-seed dry fruits in which the seed remains separate from its hard enveloping pericarp. Examples are the hazelnut, Corylus americana, and the chestnut, Castanea dentata. Many ‘nuts’ in popular parlance are botanically drupes rather than nuts. In a drupe the peri carp consists of an outer skin or exocarp, a middle layer or mesocarp and a very hard inner layer or endocarp surrounding the seed. ‘False nuts’ consist of the endocarp and seed of a drupe. They include the first five genera discussed here - canarium almonds, Canarium spp. (§2.1), the sea almond and the okari nut, Terminalia spp. (§2.4), cutnuts, Barringtonia spp. (§2.3), and the various species of Pandanus - as well as the coconut (see ch.12, figure 12.1), the candlenut, Aleurites moluccana (ch.13, §3.2), the macadamia, Macadamia integrifolia, and the almond proper, Prunus dulcis. Fleshy fruits like the peach, P. persica, the plum, P. domestica, the apricot, P. armeniaca, the ocean lychee, Pometia pinnata (§3 .5) and mangoes, Mangifera spp. (§3.4), are also drupes, but the fleshy mesocarp is eaten, not the endocarp and seed. Some ‘nuts’, like the Brazil nut, Bertholletia excelsa, and the canarium nut, Canarium indicum, are simply seeds.

2.1. Canarium spp. (Burseraceae)⇫

Canarium is one of a suite of plants that were domesticated in the rain forests of northern New Guinea during the early Holocene. Other members of the suite were the breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) and the two fruit trees Pometia pinnata and Burckella obovata (Yen 1996). Canarium is the most important nut-bearing genus in Papua New Guinea, cultivated by almost a third of the rural population (Bourke & Allen forthcoming).

A number of Canarium species occur today in northwest island Melanesia (eight have been recorded in the Solomons) but only three cultivated species are common within their respective ranges: Canarium indicum (P ngali), Canarium salomonense (P andoa) and Canarium harveyi (Evans 1999: 3).¹ Of these, only Canarium indicum occurs in New Guinea and the Bismarcks (Bourke 1996), and was presumably the only common species known to POc speakers before they reached the Solomons. Its range extends from Halmahera to Vanuatu. Canarium salomonense is found in Bougainville and the Solomons and in New Guinea, but not in the Bismarcks. Canarium harveyi apparently originated on Santa Cruz Island as the result of selection and has spread eastward to Tikopia, Anuta, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Niue (Leenhouts 1959,Yen 1996). ²

Canarium indicum grows to a height of 15-30 m and in the wild is one of the smaller trees of the rain forest canopy. The fruit is a drupe with an oily edible kernel. The skin (exocarp) of the fruit is green when unripe, black when ripe. The ripe flesh (mesocarp) is edible but astringent and deteriorates rapidly. Inside the flesh is the shell (endocarp) and inside the shell is the edible kernel consisting usually of two seeds, each enclosed in its own skin (testa), which is peeled off before the seeds are eaten (Evans 1999: 6; see Figure 11.1).

Particular tree species display considerable variation in their forms, and this variation reflects the time depth of cultivation and domestication. Thus round fruit predominate in Vanuatu, oval fruit in the Solomons. Nuts may contain one kernel or two, which may be white or yellow. The rhythm of flowering, which can be altered by vigorous pruning, varies so that trees can be harvested at different times. Canarium indicum trees are usually individually owned and in some areas are tended where they have grown naturally in the forest. In the Solomons most are planted near villages. Canarium salomonense is usually a cultivated tree. Solomon Islanders consider Canarium indicum to require more light than Canarium salomonense, and hence more attention has to be paid to clearing other trees around it (Evans 1999: 40). Walter & Sam (2002: 153) report that in Vanuatu spontaneously germinated seedlings or fully ripened fruits are sometimes planted in gardens or villages.

Canarium indicum and Canarium salomonense are especially valued for their oily nuts and there is evidence that this was already true in POc times (ch.2, §4). Canarium nuts are broken open with a stone. Along the northeast coast of New Guinea, in the Bismarcks, in Bougainville and in the Solomons, their kernels are eaten raw or smoked, or the smoked nuts are pounded with sago, bananas or a root crop³ to make an oily pudding (POc *puro-ŋ, ch.12, §4.2) (Paijmans 1976: 123-124, Peekel 1984:281, Bourke 1996, Kwa’ioloa&Burt2001: 102). A Takia speaker once described the pudding to me as ‘pork when there is no pig’: it is presented to honoured guests. Hviding (2005: 128, 133) says it is ‘a very important food, as much now as in the old days’ in Marovo, where traditionally the first puddings were presented to spirits. Similarly on Small Malaita and Ulawa there were ceremonies associated with the first nuts: on Small Malaita this occurred with the first harvest in early August, on Ulawa when the first smoked nuts are ready. In both cases a priest sacrificed nuts and pudding to the ancestors (Ivens 1927: 367-369). On Choiseul Canarium salomonense has been elevated to a high level of spiritual significance manifested in a variety of practices (McClatchey et al. 2006a ). The cultural importance of Canarium is seen in the Marovo term buruburu ‘Canarium spp. (generic)’, which is also used for ‘year’, the interval between two ripenings of canarium nuts (Hviding 2005: 107).

Among the Kwara’ae Canarium wood is regarded as unsuitable for building, as it becomes worm-eaten (Kwa’ioloa & Burt 2001: 103), but Powell (1976) reports that the Bola use it for canoe hulls and building materials. The Kwara’ae use its resin for caulking cracks in canoes.

Canarium harveyi is almost identical in appearance to Canarium salomonense and was earlier thought to be a variety of the latter. Canarium salomonense is dioecious, whereas Canarium harveyi is polygamodioecious, presumably as a result of selection (Evans 1999: 59). Both are similar in appearance to Canarium indicum.⁴ The shell of a Canarium salomonense nut cracks into two halves when it is hammered, whereas the shell of Canarium indicum shatters. Both are processed and eaten in much the same ways (Record 1945; Kwa’ioloa & Burt 2001: 104).

Of the three terms reconstructed below, POc *[ka]ŋaRi was almost certainly the term for Canarium indicum as well as the generic term for Canarium species.⁵

Note that the initial syllable of *[ka]ŋaRi is reflected only in Admiralties, North New Guinea and Papuan Tip languages (and perhaps in Raga and Namakir), whereas Meso-Melanesian and Eastern Oceanic reflexes point to *ŋaRi. This distribution justifies the reconstruction of POc forms with and without initial *ka-, which may represent or have been reanalysed as the prefix *ka- ‘tree’ reflecting earlier *kayu ‘tree’ (ch.2, §7.1.2). Bola taŋari may reflect the addition of an otherwise unknown prefix ta- to *ŋaRi.

Marshallese kaŋal ‘Pisonia grandis’ looks as if it is a borrowing from a language retaining initial ka-, i.e. Admiralties or Western Oceanic, but on current knowledge of Oceanic settlement history it is difficult to see how this could have occurred.

PCEMP		*ka(n,ŋ)aRi	‘canarium almond, Canarium spp.’
POc		*[ka]ŋaRi	‘canarium almond, Canarium indicum’
Adm	Lou	kane	‘canarium almond’
Adm	Titan	aŋei	‘almond’
Adm	Baluan	kanai	‘canarium almond’ (Nevermann 1934)
Adm	Sori-Harengan	kenai	‘canarium almond’ (Nevermann 1934)
Adm	Papitalai	aŋei	(glossed ‘almond’ by Nevermann 1934)
NNG	Kove	aŋahi	‘canarium almond’ (A. Chowning, pers. comm.)
NNG	Lukep	kaŋar	‘canarium almond’
NNG	Mengen	kaŋali	‘canarium almond’
NNG	Takia	aŋar	‘canarium almond’
NNG	Manam	kaŋari	‘canarium almond’
PT	Muyuw	kinay	‘canarium almond’
MM	Bola	taŋari	‘canarium almond, Canarium indicum’ (t- for expected †k-)
MM	East Kara	ŋai	‘canarium almond, Canarium indicum’
MM	Patpatar	ŋar	‘canarium almond, Canarium indicum’
MM	Uruava	nari	‘canarium almond’
MM	Vangunu	ŋari	‘canarium almond’
MM	Kusaghe	ŋari	‘Canarium indicum’ (Evans 1999: 39)
PEOc		*[qa]ŋaRi	‘canarium almond, Canarium spp.’
SES	Bugotu	ŋali	‘canarium almond’ (W. McClatchey, pers. comm.)
SES	Gela	ŋali	‘canarium almond’
SES	Kwara’ae	ŋali	‘canarium almond’
SES	Lau	ŋali	‘canarium almond’
NCV	Mwotlap	na-ŋey	‘canarium almond’
NCV	Mota	ŋai	‘canarium almond’
NCV	Ambae	ŋai	‘canarium almond’
NCV	Araki	ŋa-ŋa	‘canarium almond’
NCV	Raga	aŋai	‘native almond; kidney’
NCV	Naman	n-eŋe	‘canarium almond’
NCV	Nese	n-eŋa	‘canarium almond’
NCV	Port Sandwich	ni-ŋai	‘canarium almond’
NCV	Paamese	iŋā	‘canarium almond’
NCV	Lewo	(pur)ŋi	‘canarium almond’
NCV	Namakir	ʔaŋa	‘canarium almond’
NCV	Nguna	na-ŋai	‘canarium almond’
NCV	South Efate	na-ŋe	‘canarium almond’
SV	Sye	na-ŋai	‘canarium almond’
SV	Lenakel	na-ŋe	‘canarium almond’
SV	Anejom̃	na-ŋai	‘canarium almond’
SV	Sye	na-ŋai	‘canarium almond’

cf. also:

Mic

Marshallese

kaŋal

‘Pisonia grandis’

The denotatum of PWOc *pinuaq is not clear, as the one Papuan Tip witness is glossed ‘Terminalia catappa’, the Meso-Melanesian witnesses all ‘canarium almond’, presumably Canarium indicum. It is possible - but not probable - that lthe items listed below reflect POc *pinu(q)an ‘Macaranga spp.’ (§2.5) with a change in denotatum.

PWOc		*pinuaq	‘a nut tree, perhaps Canarium sp. (?)’
PT	Lala	viŋu	‘Terminalia catappa’
MM	Patpatar	hinuai	‘canarium almond, Canarium indicum’
MM	Bilur	inuai	‘canarium almond’
MM	Kandas	nui	‘canarium almond’
MM	Tinputz	winoa	‘canarium almond’
MM	Kia	finua	‘Canarium salomonensis’ (W. McClatchey, pers. comm.)

The POc reconstructions *(q)alipa and *lalipa are problematic both semantically and formally. The nut described in the Drehet gloss is not readily recognisable; the Mangap reflex is glossed Terminalia catappa, the Kwara’ae Inocarpus fagifer, and the rest, all NNG or MM, ‘canarium almond’. The principal formal difficulty is the initial consonant. Drehet has accreted n-, reflecting the PAdm article *na, and points to POc initial *q- or the absence of an initial consonant (Ross 1988: 340-341), i.e. *(q)alip, as do the Tami and Numbami reflexes. The other North New Guinea forms and Kwara’ae (SES) reflect a variant *lalip. The Minigir and Tolai reflexes reflect a variant in g-, rather than expected †k- reflecting *q-. Finally, the Drehet, Mangap and Tolai forms point to the presence of a final vowel, and Tolai attests to -a,⁶ but Kwara’ae unexpectedly lacks the final syllable. If this term did indeed denote the canarium nut, then it may be that cultivars of this culturally significant item have been propagated from one location to another, and the term for them has been borrowed at the same time.

POc		*(q)alipa, *lalipa	‘nut sp., possibly canarium almond, Canarium sp.’ (?)
Adm	Drehet	n-elip	‘k tree: nut, grows wild, very hard skin, oval, about one centimetre long, dark green’ (perhaps Canarium chinare; J. Kennedy, pers. comm.)
NNG	Mangap	lelivii	‘Terminalia catappa’
NNG	Dami	lali	‘canarium almond’
NNG	Tami	yalip	‘canarium almond’
NNG	Numbami	yalipa	‘canarium almond’
NNG	Yabem	lanip	‘canarium almond’
NNG	Kaiwa	lalip	‘canarium almond’
NNG	Kairiru	laliu	‘big, red canarium almond’
NNG	Ulau-Suain	liliu	‘canarium almond’
MM	Minigir	galip	‘canarium almond’
MM	Tolai	galipa	‘canarium almond’
SES	Kwara’ae	(ʔai)lali	‘Tahitian chestnut, Inocarpus fagifer’ (lit. ‘kidney tree’)

Kwa’ioloa and Burt (2001: 119) note that Kwara’ae lali is also used for ‘kidney’. However, the semantic extension is from ‘nut’ to ‘kidney’, not vice versa, as the use of ‘nut’ words for kidneys is quite common, e.g. Arosi kora i mabʷe ‘kidneys’ (lit. ‘fruit of Tahitian chestnut’ ), Niuean fua-ifi ‘kidney’ (lit. ‘fruit of Tahitian chestnut’).

2.2. Inocarpus fagifer, Tahitian chestnut, Pacific chestnut, Polynesian chestnut, TP aila, B namambe (Fabaceae)⇫

Inocarpus fagifer is a common second storey tree of the foreshore or lowland forest, reaching 15-30 m in height in the Bismarcks but shorter on islands further east. Its trunk is straight and fluted (Figure 11.2). Its fruit is a pod about 8cm long which does not release its single white seed, which must be cooked to be palatable. The enormous variety of its forms reflects the fact that it has long been cultivated (Bourke & Allen (forthcoming) report that it is cultivated by a sixth of Papua New Guinea’s rural population). Leaves may be elongated and narrow or oblong and wide. The fruit may be rounded, crescent-shaped or elongated-oval and green, brown or yellow (Walter & Sam2002: 183-184). Right across Oceania it is either boiled or roasted like a chestnut (Paijmans 1976: 124, Evans 1999: 19-21, S. Foale 2001, Walter & Sam 2002: 183, Gardner & Pawley 2006). Hence the English term ‘Tahitian chestnut’. It is then either eaten without further treatment, or in the Solomons and Fiji grated on coral and made into bread or pudding (Capell 1941, Peekel 1984: 245, Evans 1999: 19, Walter & Sam 2002: 185). In parts of Vanuatu it is a major alternative food between the two yam seasons, and the nuts are stored in various ways (Walter & Sam 2002: 185).

The cooked seed varies in taste and villagers choose trees according to the taste of their seeds. The tree spreads naturally and prolifically and is then often carefully protected. Seedlings that grow around the base of the trunk are left in place if the tree is little used, but removed from others so that fallen fruit can be harvested more easily. In Vanuatu seedlings of trees bearing fruit preferred by villagers are transplanted close to the village, but this seems to occur less commonly in the Solomons (Walter & Sam 2002: 184–185).

On Lihir the leaves of Inocarpus fagifer are used to parcel up food for cooking in a stone oven (S. Foale 2001). The wood is brittle and susceptible to borers and in general little used, but in Fiji and Tonga tool handles are made from the flutes of its trunk (Walter & Sam 2002: 186, Gardner & Pawley 2006).

Blust (ACD) argues that Dempwolff (1938) confused reflexes of POc *qipil ‘ironwood, Intsia bijuga’ (ch.7, 4.9) with those of POc *ipi ‘Tahitian chestnut, Inocarpus fagifer’. The difference between the two denotata, he suggests, justifies separate reconstructions. He is certainly right, as Marovo has distinct reflexes of the two terms, respectively kivili and ivi.⁷

POc		*ipi	‘Tahitian chestnut, Inocarpus fagifer’
Adm	Mussau	ii	‘Tahitian chestnut’
NNG	Amara	(e)ip	‘Tahitian chestnut, Inocarpus fagifer’
NNG	Lukep	ip	‘nut-bearing tree’
NNG	Gitua	ipi	‘Tahitian chestnut’
NNG	Bing	yip	‘Tahitian chestnut’
NNG	Takia	ip	‘Tahitian chestnut’
PT	Bwaidoga	ɣivi	‘wild chestnut’
MM	Simbo	ivi	‘Tahitian chestnut’
MM	Nduke	ivi	‘Tahitian chestnut’
MM	Marovo	ivi	‘Tahitian chestnut’
MM	Gao	na-efi	‘Tahitian chestnut, Inocarpus fagifer’ (W. McClatchey, pers. comm.)
MM	Maringe	na-ifi	‘Tahitian chestnut, Inocarpus fagifer’ (W. McClatchey, pers. comm.)
PEOc		*ipi	‘Tahitian chestnut, Inocarpus fagifer’
Mic	Kiribati	ibi	‘Tahitian chestnut’
Fij	Bauan	ivi	‘Tahitian chestnut’
Fij	Wayan	ivi	‘Tahitian chestnut’
Fij	Rotuman	ʔifi	‘Tahitian chestnut’
Pn	Tongan	ifi	‘Tahitian chestnut, Inocarpus fagifer’
Pn	Anutan	ipi	‘Tahitian chestnut’
Pn	Samoan	ifi	‘Tahitian chestnut, Inocarpus fagifer’
Pn	Rarotongan	iʔi	‘Tahitian chestnut’

PEOc		*mabʷe	‘Tahitian chestnut, Inocarpus fagifer’ (Lynch 2004a; Chowning 2001: *m(ʷ)ap(ʷ)e)
SES	Sa’a	mapʷe	‘Tahitian chestnut’
SES	Santa Ana	mʷapʷe	‘Tahitian chestnut’
SES	Kahua	mabe	‘Tahitian chestnut’ (Henderson and Hancock 1988)
NCV	Mota	mabʷe	‘tree sp.’
NCV	Ambae	magʷe	‘Tahitian chestnut’
NCV	Nokuku	mape	‘Tahitian chestnut’
NCV	Kiai	mape	‘Tahitian chestnut’
NCV	Tamambo	(vu)mabue	‘Tahitian chestnut’
NCV	Araki	uetᫀe	‘Tahitian chestnut’
NCV	Raga	mʷabʷe	‘tree sp.’
NCV	Nese	na-mab	‘Tahitian chestnut’
NCV	Port Sandwich	na-mbʷe	‘Tahitian chestnut’
NCV	Namakir	mʷamʷ	‘Tahitian chestnut’
NCV	Nguna	na-mʷapʷe	‘Tahitian chestnut’
SV	Anejom̃	n-mapʷ	‘Tahitian chestnut’ (Wheatley 1992: 143)
Pn	Rapanui	mape	‘kidney’
Pn	Mangarevan	mape	‘local chestnut’
Pn	Pukapukan	mape	‘ovary’
Pn	Tahitian	māpē	‘kidney; Inocarpus fagifer’

Ivens (1929) assumes that Sa’a (SES) mapʷe ‘Inocarpus fagifer’ is a borrowing from Mota, but this supposition seems unnecessary.

The Tahitian reflex above is glossed ‘kidney’ as well as ‘Inocarpus fagifer’, and the Rapanui reflex denotes only ‘kidney’. As noted in §2.1, there is a tendency for names of nuts also to be used as (or as part of) the term for the kidney.

2.3. Barringtonia spp. other than Barringtonia asiatica, cutnut, bush nut, TP pao, B navele (Lecythidaceae)⇫

The genus Barringtonia has a number of species (see also ch.5, §5.2), but only three have edible nuts: Barringtonia novae-hiberniae (syn. Barringtonia oblongifolia, Barringtonia brosimos), Barringtonia procera (syn. Barringtonia magnifica, B. excelsa, Barringtonia schuchardtiana, Barringtonia guppyana) and Barringtonia edulis (syn. Barringtonia calyptrata, B. excelsa, Barringtonia samoensis, Barringtonia seaturae). They are small trees, growing to between 7 and 20m, which fruit 2-3 times a year, producing a fruit with a fleshy exocarp, a thin fibrous mesocarp and a thin, hard endocarp, within which is a large oily seed with a thin, minutely hairy skin (Figure 11.3).⁸ The seed is edible raw or cooked (Evans 1999: 12-17, 31, 44, Gardner & Pawley 2006). Barringtonia species with edible nuts grow today in villages on northeast mainland New Guinea and in the Bismarcks, the Solomons and in Vanuatu.

Peekel (1984: 397) says that the seeds of Barringtonia novae-hiberniae are superior to those of Barringtonia procera. Otherwise the three species are very similar and are sometimes confused in botanical reports. Jebb (1992) provides a careful and relatively recent study of the edible species, and the synonyms above are based on his listing. There are numerous cultivars, and this has led to the proliferation of synonyms as well as confusions about which species a given cultivar represents. Evans (1999: 38) comments that in indigenous Solomons taxonomies Barringtonia edulis is often classified with Barringtonia novae-hiberniae.

Figure 11.3: Barringtonia edulis, cut nut: A, tree; B, flowering shoot; C, flower; D, portion of string of fruit; E, longitudinal section of ripe fruit and edible kernel (from [Henderson & Hancock 1988](../sources/HendersonandHancock1988): 62), F, detailed longitudinal section of fruit; G, transverse section of fruit.

Of the three species, it seems probable that only Barringtonia novae-hiberniae was present in the Bismarcks in early Oceanic times, although, like Barringtonia edulis, it is only a minor food source in present-day Papua New Guinea. It is the only species of the three which grows wild in the forests of Papua New Guinea (Jebb 1992), and it is also the species which Peekel (1984: 397) reports as being tended or planted in gardens and around villages in New Ireland for its edible seeds.

All three species grow wild in the forests of the Solomon Islands, often in wet places. Barringtonia novae-hiberniae is more likely to grow wild (it is considered to be the most shade-tolerant of the three species), whilst Barringtonia procera and Barringtonia edulis are more likely to grow near villages where they are often transplanted to groves along with Canarium trees (Evans 1999:40-41, Hviding 2005: 146).

Nut and fruit trees 3 21

Jebb (1992) reports that wild specimens of Barringtonia procera have only been found in the Solomons. Cultivated varieties of Barringtonia procera abound in the Solomons and Vanuatu, suggesting that it has long been domesticated there (Walter & Sam 2002: 118). Indeed, local informants told Yen (1996) that Barringtonia procera originated on Santa Cruz Island in the extreme east of the Solomons, and he appears to entertain this possibility. Thus it seems to have been transported from the Solomons and Bougainville to New Ireland and thence to the Gazelle Peninsula of New Britain and the Admiralties (Bourke 1996), perhaps in the last thousand years. The fact that it had not spread to the rest of New Britain or to New Guinea by 1870 suggests that its spread occurred later rather than earlier.⁹ J. Kennedy’s (pers. comm.) informants in the Admiralties regard Barringtonia procera as old there, and Bourke (forthcoming) regards it as a pre-contact introduction. If this reconstruction of events is correct, then it may be that Barringtonia procera displaced earlier Barringtonia novae-hiberniae cultivation in the Bismarcks.¹⁰

Peekel apparently did not find Barringtonia edulis in New Ireland during his work, which predated the second World War. On the other hand, in Fiji it is the only edible Barringtonia species and grows wild in both open and dense forest (it is rarely cultivated there; Jebb 1992). It also grows in the wild and occurs in many varieties in the Solomons and Vanuatu, indicating a long cultivation history (Walter & Sam 2002: 112-113). These facts suggest that Barringtonia edulis may have been brought to the Bismarcks very recently.

These considerations influence the interpretation and glossing of the reconstructions below. Only one POc term, *pala(ŋ), can be convincingly reconstructed for edible Barringtonia, and it is a reasonable inference that it denoted Barringtonia novae-hiberniae. Peekel reports two varieties in New Ireland: the more desirable variety has fruit ‘blackish-purple to wine-red’, the other pale green. In Patpatar, the red variety is called paua kubar, the green paua pala.¹¹ It is thus possible that POc *pala(ŋ) denoted the green variety.

The final *-(ŋ) is added on the basis of Kara falaŋ. However, the absence of a reflex in other Meso-Melanesian languages, where a final-consonant reflex is expected, makes its reconstruction doubtful.

POc		*pala(ŋ)	‘cut nut, bush nut, Barringtonia novae-hiberniae (green variety?)’
MM	East Kara	faləŋ	‘Barringtonia novae-hiberniae’
MM	Patpatar	(paua) pala	‘Barringtonia novae-hiberniae, variety with pale green fruit’
MM	Kokota	fala	‘cut nut’
MM	Gao	fala	‘Barringtonia edulis’ (W. McClatchey, pers. comm.)
MM	Maringe	fala	‘Barringtonia procera, cut nut’ (Evans 1999: 39)
TM	Tanibili	no-volo	‘cut nut’
TM	Tanema	vara	‘cut nut’ (-r- for †-l-)

PEOc		*pala	‘cut nut, bush nut, Barringtonia sp .’
SES	Talise	vala	‘cut nut’
SES	Kwara’ae	fala	‘Barringtonia procera, Barringtonia edulis, Barringtonia novae-hiberniae’ (W. McClatchey, pers. comm.)
SES	Arosi	hara	‘Barringtonia edulis’
SES	Bauro	hara	‘cut nut’
SES	Kahua	hara	‘cut nut’
NCal	Nyelâyu	pālac	‘Barringtonia neocaledonica’
Fij	Wayan	(kutu)vala	‘Barringtonia edulis, with large seed edible raw or cooked’

Also seemingly reconstructable on the basis of the cognate set below is POc *pele, but the fact that it differs from POc *pala(ŋ) only in its vowels suggests that some or all of the terms in the set reflect borrowings associated with the westward expansion of either Barringtonia procera or Barringtonia edulis. Additionally problematic are the fact that the two terms found in New Britain (Nakanai, Meramera uele) denote other nut trees and not a Barringtonia sp., and the fact that they reflect POc initial *w- rather than *p-.

MM	Nakanai	uele	‘Canarium mehenbethene’(Floyd 1954)
MM	Meramera	uele	‘Tahitian chestnut’
MM	Vaghua	vele	‘cut nut’
MM	Babatana	vele	‘Barringtonia procera, Barringtonia edulis, Barringtonia novae-hiberniae’ (W. McClatchey, pers. comm.)
NCV	Mota	vele	‘Barringtonia edulis’
NCV	Tamambo	(vu)vale	‘Barringtonia edulis’
NCV	Raga	vele	‘Barringtonia edulis’
NCV	Apma	vʷel	‘Barringtonia edulis’
NCV	Lonwolwol	woleh	‘a common edible nut’
NCV	Namakir	vil	‘Barringtonia edulis’
NCV	Nguna	na-vīla	‘Barringtonia edulis’
SV	Sye	vel(ŋah)	‘Barringtonia edulis’
SV	Ura	ni-ver(ŋi)	‘Barringtonia edulis’

Although *kinu ‘edible Barringtonia species’ has reflexes in both Meso-Melanesian and SE Solomonic languages, the members of the set are spread across the border between Western and Eastern Oceanic, so borrowing is more probable than shared inheritance from POc.

MM	Roviana	kinu	‘Barringtonia sp., with edible nut’
MM	Nduke	kino	‘cut nut’
MM	Hoava	kinu	‘cut nut’
MM	Kusaghe	kinu	‘Barringtonia procera, cut nut’(Evans 1999: 39)
SES	Gela	kinu	‘k shore tree with ed. fruit’
SES	Lau	kinu	‘cut nut, Barringtonia edulis’
SES	Kwaio	kinu	‘cut nut’
SES	Kwara’ae	kiun-kinu	‘cut nut, Barringtonia edulis’(Evans 1999: 39)

Figure 11.4: Terminalia catappa, sea almond: Left A, tree; B, shoot bearing fruit; C, flowering shoot; D, fruit with edible kernel (from [Henderson & Hancock 1988](../sources/HendersonandHancock1988): 71). Right Parts of fruit: E, longitudinal section.

2.4. Terminalia spp. (Combretaceae)⇫

A number of Terminalia species have edible ‘nuts’, but only two are reported to be planted in NW Island Melanesia. They are Terminalia catappa (sea almond, Indian almond, Java almond, TP talis, P alite, B natavoa) and Terminalia kaernbachii (okari nut, B natalie).¹² Terminalia catappa is distributed from southern India to Polynesia, but Terminalia kaernbachii occurs indigenously only in New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago (Bourke 1996, Walter & Sam 2002: 260). Several other species with edible nuts occur in NW Island Melanesia but are only harvested from the wild (Terminalia copelandii, Terminalia impediens; Paijmans 1976: 123-124), and yet other species have fruits with edible flesh (_Terminalia megalocarpa__, syn. T. solomonensis, T. lapalagon). Several Terminalia species found indigenously in the Solomons provide good timber: Terminalia brassii, T. calamansanai and Terminalia sepicana (Evans 1999: 10–11).

Terminalia catappa is a stout broad tree growing to 10-25 m, with a short, often twisted, easily climbed bole. It prefers moister environments, is a common foreshore tree in New Guinea and the Bismarcks, and grows along the coastal strip up to an altitude of 300 m. It also grows in the floodplain forests and streambanks of Bougainville (Peekel 1984:403, Mueller-Dombois & Fosberg 1998: 60, Bourke & Allen forthcoming). Its leaves turn red and fall about four times a year, providing a calendrical marker in lagoon environments in Fiji. The fruit of Terminalia catappa has a thin, fleshy exocarp covering a fibrous mesocarp fused with a thick, hard, irregular endocarp (the stone), within which is an edible seed with an almond-like taste enclosed in a red skin (testa) (Figure 11.4), eaten raw or roasted (Evans 1999: 12-13).

Terminalia kaernbachii is more slender and has thinner branches than Terminalia catappa. It is also taller, growing to 20-40 m (Peekel 1984:403, Evans 1999: 41). Its fruit is the largest known among the Combretaceae and contains a large edible seed which ranges in weight from 1.5 to 10 g. Its distribution is quite different from the coastal Terminalia catappa. It prefers instead inland environments up to an altitude of 1100 m with a greater diurnal temperature range. Until recently its distribution in the Bismarcks was limited to the extreme west of New Britain and to Manus Island in the Admiralties (Walter & Sam 2002:260, Bourke & Allen forthcoming, pers. comm.). Unfortunately, Terminalia kaernbachii has received relatively little attention in the literature, partly perhaps because of its restricted distribution and partly because it is overshadowed by the better known and far more widespread Terminalia catappa.

The literature also attributes little importance to Terminalia catappa, but this reflects a decline in its consumption since European contact. In the Solomons and Fiji the nuts tend to be eaten raw as snacks and collected by children, but they are not (or no longer?) used in cooking. Paijmans (1976: 123-124) and R.M. Bourke (pers. comm.) report that it is often planted and is a common village shade tree in New Guinea and the Bismarcks. Walter & Sam (2002: 255) say that Terminalia catappa nuts are sometimes preserved by smoking in New Britain and Bougainville. The situation in Vanuatu is ambiguous. Walter & Sam (2002: 255) report that Terminalia catappa is largely spread by birds and bats, and little cultivated, but the fact that there are many varieties there may point to past selection through planting.

In Vanuatu and on Waya (Fiji) the wood of Terminalia catappa was carved. In Vanuatu it is also used for canoes and for the frameworks of buildings (Walter & Sam 2002:255-256, Gardner & Pawley 2006). In Marovo juice squeezed from the leaves makes a medicine against various pains including toothache. Bark scrapings wrapped in leaves and heated over a fire are squeezed to produce a liquid given to children who have a sore throat, cough or diarrhoea, and it has similar uses in Vanuatu (Walter & Sam 2002:256, Hviding 2005: 145).

Comments in the agronomic literature about the relative insignificance of Terminalia catappa are belied by the fact that there is a term with very widespread reflexes, namely POc *talise. The denotatum of reflexes from New Guinea and the Bismarcks is usually noted simply as ‘Terminalia sp.’, but it is a reasonable inference that reflexes from coastal locations in New Guinea, from New Britain and New Ireland and from small islands all denote Terminalia catappa (R.M. Bourke, pers. comm.) and that this was the denotatum of POc *talise. If this interpretation is correct, then no term for Terminalia kaernbachii is reconstructable on the basis of the available data.

PMP		*talisay	‘Terminalia catappa’ (Dempwolff 1938)
POc		*talise	‘Terminalia catappa’ (Milke 1961)
Adm	Seimat	talil	‘Terminalia sp.’ (Sorensen 1950)
Adm	Lou	telit	‘Terminalia sp.’
Adm	Loniu	tɛlus	‘Terminalia sp.’
Adm	Titan	drilis	‘Terminalia sp.’
NNG	Mengen	talisi	‘Terminalia catappa’
NNG	Kove	talize	‘Terminalia sp.’
NNG	Tami	talit	‘Terminalia sp.’
NNG	Kela	tarik	‘Terminalia sp.’
NNG	Takia	tali	‘Terminalia sp.’
NNG	Kairiru	talis	‘Terminalia sp.’
MM	Vitu	taðile	‘Terminalia sp.’ (metathesis)
MM	Bola	tarile	‘Terminalia sp.’ (metathesis)
MM	Lavongai	talisa	‘Terminalia sp.’
MM	Madak	ralis	‘tree sp.’
MM	Sursurunga	talis	‘Indian chestnut’
MM	Tolai	tali	‘Terminalia sp.’
MM	Ramoaaina	təliə	‘Terminalia sp.’
MM	Babatana	talike	‘Terminalia catappa’ (-k- for †-∅-)
MM	Nduke	ta-talise	‘Terminalia catappa’
MM	Roviana	ta-talise	‘Terminalia catappa’
MM	Marovo	talise	‘Terminalia catappa’
MM	Kia	(na)klihe	‘Terminalia catappa’ (W. McClatchey, pers. comm.)
MM	Maringe	(na)klise	‘Terminalia catappa’
PEOc		*talise	‘Terminalia catappa’
SES	Gela	talihe	‘Terminalia catappa’
SES	Lau	alite	‘Terminalia catappa’
SES	Kwara’ae	alita	‘Terminalia catappa’
NCV	Mwotlap	t[ı]lıs	‘Terminalia catappa’
NCV	Mota	salite	‘Terminalia catappa’ (metathesis)
NCV	Tolomako	na-talise	‘Inocarpus fagifer’
NCV	Apma	telis	‘Terminalia catappa’
NCV	Nguna	na-talie	‘Terminalia catappa’
NCV	South Efate	n-tali	‘Terminalia catappa’
PSV		*nə-talis	‘Terminalia catappa’ (Lynch 2001c)
SV	Sye	nteli	‘Terminalia catappa’
SV	Lenakel	telh	‘k.o. tree with flattish oval brown fruit which is cracked open and eaten’
SV	Anejom̃	n-tejeθ	‘Terminalia catappa’
PCP		*talise	‘Terminalia catappa’
Fij	Bauan	daliði	‘Terminalia catappa’
Pn	Tongan	telie	‘Terminalia catappa’
Pn	Niuean	telie	‘Terminalia catappa’
Pn	East Futunan	talie	‘Terminalia catappa’
Pn	Samoan	talie	‘Terminalia catappa’
Pn	Luangiua	talie	‘tree sp. with big yellow berries’
Pn	Marquesan	taʔie	‘Terminalia catappa’
Pn	Rarotongan	taria	‘Terminalia catappa’
Pn	Rennellese	tagie	‘Terminalia catappa’
Pn	Tokelauan	talie	‘Terminalia catappa’

Two other POc terms possibly denoted Terminalia species: *tapoRa and *qatV. The POc denotatum of *tapoRa is unclear. In PEOc it evidently denoted a species of Terminalia, possibly Terminalia catappa,¹³ but the glosses of the Takia and Nehan reflexes make it impossible to determine its POc denotation.

POc		*tapoRa	‘a nut-bearing tree sp.’ (Geraghty 1990)
NNG	Takia	tapal	‘nut tree, like Canarium, but less oily’14
MM	Nehan	tauol	‘Inocarpus fagifer’ (Glennon and Glennon 2005)
PEOc		*tapoRa	‘Terminalia spp.’ (Geraghty 1990)
SES	Kwara’ae	dafo	‘Terminalia brassii’
NCV	Mwotlap	na-twoy	‘Albizia saman’
NCV	Mota	tawora	‘Albizia saman’
NCV	Ambae	tavoa	‘Terminalia catappa’
NCV	Tamambo	(vu)tavoa	‘Terminalia catappa’
NCV	Maewo	tavoa	‘Terminalia catappa’
NCV	Raga	tavoa	‘Terminalia catappa’
NCV	Uripiv	dawo	‘Terminalia catappa’
NCV	Nese	tavo	‘Terminalia catappa’
NCV	Port Sandwich	ravo	‘Terminalia catappa’
NCV	Lonwolwol	tavoro	‘a fruit’
NCV	Paamese	hoai	‘Terminalia catappa’
NCV	Lewo	(puru)tawo	‘Terminalia catappa’
NCV	Baki	(bur)tavu	‘Terminalia catappa’
NCV	Namakir	tauwo, tawo	‘Terminalia catappa’
Fij	Bauan	tāvola	‘Terminalia catappa’15

The set below appears to reflect a POc *qatV. Superficially Nehan kasasas appears cognate, but it is at best a borrowed reflex. The expected Nehan reflex would be *ata: Nehan k- and -s- reflect POc *k and *s respectively. Terminalia complanata and Terminalia sepicana are both uncultivated edible species, the nuts of which are occasionally consumed as snacks, and so the gloss ‘Terminalia sp. with edible nut’ is well enough supported.

POc		*qatV	‘Terminalia sp. with edible nut’
MM	Madak	(var)ʔa	‘Terminalia complanata’
NCV	South Efate	n-at	‘Terminalia sepicana (eaten only by fruit bat)’
Mic	Chuukese	asas	‘Terminalia catappa’
Mic	Carolinian	asas	‘Terminalia catappa’

cf. also:

MM

Nehan

kasasas

‘Terminalia samoensis’

2.5. Pandanus spp., screw pines (Pandanaceae)⇫

Pandanus trees are an easily recognised feature in the forests of NW Island Melanesia. All species have aerial roots and very large thick leaves. The leaves of some species serve on canoes as sails, awnings, deck-houses, bailers and in houses as roofing, mats and wall lining. Sewn leaves are used for rain capes. POc *qebal ‘pandanus mat’ is reconstructed in vol. 1, ch.4, §3.1. The fruits of all species are syncarps, compound fruits with many segments, each a drupe, arranged around a core, and the fruits and/or seeds of various species are a source of food. Recognition of the various species, however, is much more difficult, partly because of intra-species variability which is at least partly the result of cultivation. Barrau (1962: 161-163) remarks that there is much confusion in the Linnaean naming of Pandanus species, and Henderson & Hancock (1988: 80, 232-236) do not provide names for the Solomons species they describe. Our sources are also often vague in their glosses of terms for pandanus types. Consequently it is possible that there are inaccuracies here. The four species for which POc terms can be reconstructed with reasonable certainty are:¹⁶

• Pandanus tectorius, the coastal pandanus: the most widespread and most exploited species throughout Oceania; its leaves are used for making mats;
• Pandanus dubius: it is widely distributed and remarkable for the size and strength of its leaves.
• Pandanus conoideus, with its long red or yellow fruit (Tok Pisin marita), a salient species in New Guinea but not common in the Bismarcks;
• Pandanus lamekotensis: seemingly restricted to the Admiralties and to northern and central New Ireland, but a POc term for it is reconstructable.

All except Pandanus dubius are sources of food, and the third and fourth are cultivated. Although Pandanus dubius is not a food source, I have included it here in order to keep the genus together.

2.5.1. Pandanus tectorius (syn. Pandanus odoratissimus), coastal pandanus (Pandanaceae)⇫

Pandanus tectorius usually grows just behind the shore line to a height of 5-10 m. Its leaves are 1-2 m long, flat sheets tapering to a point. The orange fruit is made up of ‘fingers’ 6–8 em long, 4–5cm wide, each consisting of 8–17 parallel nuts (Figure 11.5, left). The species shows considerable variability, consistent with having been cultivated over a long period of time, and is often found near villages and old village sites (Peekel 1984:38, Walter & Sam 2002: 216–217). In NW Island Melanesia its use is patchy: it is used in Manus, the south coast of New Britain, in New Ireland and in Bougainville (Bourke n.d.).¹⁷

Selection has resulted in cultivars with thick but pliable leaves with edges free from spines, which serve as rain hoods and are used for making mats and baskets. In Vanuatu baskets are made from leaves softened in the fire, cut into narrow strips, steeped in water, then bleached and dried in the sun (Walter & Sam 2002: 216-217).

The alimentary use of Pandanus tectorius is less significant than uses of its leaves, but it is reported from Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Tonga and Samoa. The ripe globular fruit are sucked to obtain a sweet juice, perhaps more by children than by adults. This practice may have been far more common in the past, before the arrival of sweetened soft drinks (Walter & Sam 2002:217, Bourke n.d.). On Waya (Fiji) the juice was famine food (Gardner & Pawley 2006). Barrau (1962: 88) reports that the ends of the aerial roots are baked and eaten in some Micronesian and Polynesian societies, especially in atoll communities, where its fruits are also an important food source.

On Waya the trunks are used for house rafters and leaves for thatching (Gardner & Pawley 2006).

POc *padran appears to have specifically denoted Pandanus tectorius, but was evidently also used as a generic for pandanus species. POc *kiRe and *poipoi probably denoted only Pandanus tectorius or perhaps certain cultivars of Pandanus tectorius.

PAn		*paŋudaL	‘pandanus’ (Blust 1982)
PMP		*pandan	‘pandanus’ (Dempwolff 1938)
POc		*padran	‘coastal pandanus, Pandanus tectorius; pandanus (generic)’ (Biggs 1965: *para)
Adm	Mussau	arana	‘littoral pandanus the leaves of which are used in plaiting mats and baskets, Pandanus tectorius’
Adm	Leipon	padr	‘kind of pandanus with narrow light-green leaves, used in plaiting mats’
Adm	Lou	par	‘pandanus’
Adm	Titan	par	‘pandanus fruit’ (Bowern 1999)
NNG	Amara	(a)pada-pada	‘pandanus sp. with succulent fruit’
NNG	Mangap	pāⁿda	‘pandanus tree’
NNG	Lukep	pada	‘pandanus sp.’
NNG	Malai	padan	‘pandanus’
MM	Lavongai	aran	‘pandanus’
MM	East Kara	foran	‘Pandanus tectorius’
MM	Kokota	(i)fra	‘pandanus variety, small, used for making mats’
TM	Tanema	vadane	‘pandanus’
SES	Lau	fada-da	‘pandanus’
NCV	Mota	vana	‘a pandanus, inedible variety of female Pandanus odoratissimus’
NCV	Lakon	vac	‘Pandanus tectorius’ (François 2004b)
NCV	Vera’a	vada	‘Pandanus tectorius’ (François 2004b)
NCV	Sakao	ne-vor	‘Pandanus cominsii’
SV	Kwamera	nə-fara	‘pandanus’
NCal	Jawe	wan	‘coastal pandanus’
NCal	Nyelâyu	pān	‘coastal pandanus’
Mic	Puluwatese	fār	‘pandanus, used for mats and thatch’
Mic	Carolinian	fāṣa	‘pandanus (generic)’
Fij	Wayan	vadra	‘Pandanus tectorius’
Pn	Tongan	fā	‘taxon of several Pandanus spp.’ (Whistler 1991b: 24)
Pn	Hawaiian	hala	‘Pandanus tectorius’

PMP		*kiRay	‘Pandanus sp.’18
POc		*kiRe	‘coastal Pandanus sp., probably Pandanus tectorius’ (French-Wright 1983)
PT	Gapapaiwa	kire	‘mat made of sewn pandanus leaves’
PT	Motu	gere-gere	‘Pandanus tectorius’
SES	Arosi	gire	‘Pandanus tectorius’
NCV	Mota	gire	‘Pandanus tectorius’
NCV	Mwotlap	ne-gey	‘Pandanus tectorius’ (François 2004b)
NCV	Mwesen	ger	‘Pandanus tectorius’ (Walter and Sam 2002)
NCV	Vurës	(wö)gœr	‘Pandanus tectorius’ (François 2004b)
NCV	Raga	gire	‘native tree with fruit like pineapple; pandanus’
NCV	Tamambo	hire-hire	‘woven container from coconut leaf’
NCV	Big Nambas	na-hei	‘mat’
NCV	Nguna	na-kie	‘mat pandanus’
Fij	Bauan	kie-kie	‘Pandanus sp.’
Pn	Tongan	kie	‘a sterile variety of pandanus used for weaving mats’ (Whistler 1991b: 56)
Pn	Pukapukan	kie	‘specially made mat sometimes used as sail’

POc		*poipoi	‘Pandanus sp., perhaps Pandanus tectorius’
MM	Nakanai	voivoi	‘Pandanus sp.’
SES	West Guadalcanal	voivoi	‘pandanus’
NCV	Mwotlap	wow	‘Pandanus sp.’
NCV	Araki	ðᫀeðᫀe	‘Pandanus tectorius’
NCV	Apma	wip	‘Pandanus tectorius’
NCV	Uripiv	waiw	‘general word for pandanus’
NCV	Uripiv	weiw(bur)	‘shore pandanus, has big leaves, unusable’
NCV	Port Sandwich	vaiv	‘pandanus; skirt’
NCV	Paamese	heiho	‘Pandanus sp.’
NCV	Lewo	(puru)vava	‘pandanus’
NCV	Lewo	vava	‘pandanus’
NCV	Namakir	vaiv	‘smooth pandanus’
SV	Lenakel	nu-vie	‘pandanus sp.’
Fij	Bauan	voivoi	‘Pandanus thurstoni’
Fij	Wayan	voivoi	‘cultivars of Pandanus tectorius and possibly of Pandanus dubius or Pandanus whitmeeanus’

Lynch (2004a) suggests that the following set may also reflect POc *poipoi.

PSOc		*va(i,y)u	‘Pandanus sp.’
NCV	Ambae	ve-veo	‘Pandanus sp.’
NCV	Tape	na-viu	‘Pandanus sp.’
NCV	Big Nambas	ðᫀiu	‘Pandanus sp.’
NCV	Nese	na-ðᫀau	‘Pandanus sp.’
NCV	Baki	(buru)vewo	‘Pandanus sp.’
PSV		*na-va(i,y)u	‘Pandanus sp.’ (Lynch 2004a)
SV	Sye	na-(ri)vyu	‘Pandanus tectorius’
SV	Sye	n-(or)veyu	‘bush pandanus’
SV	Lenakel	nu-vie

2.5.2. Pandanus dubius (syn. Pandanus compressus) (Pandanaceae)⇫

Nut and fruit trees 3 31

Pandanus dubius is a coastal species distributed from the Philippines southeastward as far as Vanuatu, where it is sometimes cultivated. It is the pandanus species with the broadest and stiffest leaves in the Bismarcks, 2 m or more in length and up to 16cm wide. The syncarps are made up of fingers 10-13cm long, 5-9cm wide, angular, but unlike other species not grooved (Figure 11.5, right)¹⁹ (Peekel 1984: 41, Walter & Sam 2002: 212-213).

The fruiting spike is edible but rarely eaten, Sorensen (1950) reports for the Ninigos and Walter & Sam (2002: 212) for Vanuatu. The leaves are used for thatching, and with the spiny parts removed dried leaves are sewn together as mats and large baskets (Sorensen 1950, Peekel 1984: 41).

The POc term for Pandanus dubius was *pakum.²⁰

POc		*pakum	‘Pandanus dubius’ (Peekel 1984: 41)
Adm	Mussau	aum	‘broad-leafed pandanus, Pandanus dubius’
Adm	Lou	pɔk	‘pandanus’
Adm	Titan	pek	‘pandanus’
NNG	Malai	paum	‘pandanus’
NNG	Takia	wak	‘pandanus’
NNG	Manam	aku	‘pandanus (big leaf); used to make grass skirt’
NNG	Bam	wak	‘pandanus’
NNG	Kairiru	vʸak	‘Pandanus dubius’
MM	East Kara	faum	‘Pandanus dubius’
MM	Patpatar	hau	‘pandanus’
MM	Tolai	vaum	‘Pandanus dubius’
MM	Sursurunga	aum	‘tree type similiar to pandanus’
SES	Kwara’ae	faʔu	‘pandanus (generic); mat’
SES	Kwaio	faʔu	‘pandanus’
NCV	Mota	vau	‘a pandanus’
NCV	Mwesen	(wo)vag	‘Pandanus dubius’ (Walter and Sam 2002: 295)
NCV	Namakir	na-vak	‘Pandanus dubius’ (Walter and Sam 2002: 295)
NCV	Nguna	na-vaku	‘pandanus sp.’
NCV	South Efate	n-fak	‘Pandanus dubius’
Pn	Tikopia	fao	‘broad-leaved Pandanus, Pandanus dubius’ (possibly a borrowing from a SES language)

2.5.3. Pandanus conoideus, red fruit pandanus, TP marita (Pandanaceae)⇫

Pandanus conoideus is a small tree, 4-7 m high, found in New Guinea, from the coasts up to an altitude of 2000 m.It is less common in the Bismarcks. It grows in damp, shady places around villages and on old village sites, and displays the variability typical of cultivation. Its trunk is covered in short sharp spikes, and the long leaves have spiked edges. Its syncarps are typically 20-40cm long, and sometimes reach 1 m and weigh as much as 10 kg. The fruit are bright red or occasionally yellow, and get their colour from the oil in the pericarp (Figure 11.6) (French 1986:210, Walter & Sam 2002: 210–211.)

The fruit are prized as a foodstuff and widely consumed. They are typically split, wrapped in leaves and cooked in an earth oven or roasted over a fire. The pulp and seeds are removed from the core, mashed with water and strained to produce a thick, rich red sauce with which other foods are seasoned (Sorensen 1950, Barrau 1962: 163, May 1984, Bourke in preparation).

POc *mʷafia apparently denoted Pandanus conoideus.²¹ This reconstruction is open to doubt, as there are no reflexes from New Ireland or New Britain, where the species is rare, and only one from mainland New Guinea. It is possible that Maisin moŋgi ‘Pandanus sp.’ and PMic *maŋu ‘pandanus leaf’ are also cognate. If so, they reflect a POc form in which *-ñ- has been replaced by *-ŋ-.

Another interpretation of the data is also possible, namely that the items listed below, other than Arosi mʷa-mʷana, reflect POc *moñak ‘fat, oil, coconut cream; tasty’ (ch.12, §4.2), since the fruit of Pandanus conoideus are both oily and tasty. If this were so, then Arosi mʷa-mʷana and the items listed under ‘cf. also’ would probably reflect a PEOc *mʷaŋV ’pandanus leaf.

POc		*mʷaña	‘Pandanus sp., perhaps Pandanus conoideus’
PAdm		*moña	‘pandanus with long red or yellow fruit, probably Pandanus conoideus’ (Blust 1996b)
Adm	Seimat	maun	‘Pandanus conoideus’ (*-o- > Seimat -au-) (Sorensen 1950)
Adm	Lou	mon	‘Pandanus conoideus’
Adm	Wuvulu	mona	‘Pandanus conoideus’
Adm	Likum	mon	‘Pandanus conoideus’
Adm	Nali	mon	‘Pandanus conoideus’
Adm	Pak	mon	‘Pandanus conoideus’
Adm	Lou	mon	‘Pandanus conoideus’
Adm	Leipon	moñ	‘Pandanus conoideus’
Adm	Loniu	moñ	‘Pandanus conoideus’
Adm	Bipi	moy	‘Pandanus conoideus’
Adm	Kele	moy	‘Pandanus conoideus’
Adm	Lenkau	moy	‘Pandanus conoideus’
Adm	Nauna	moy	‘Pandanus conoideus’
Adm	Drehet	muŋ	‘Pandanus conoideus’
NNG	Mapos Buang	mon	‘Pandanus conoideus’
SES	Arosi	mʷa-mʷana	‘Pandanus sp., leaves plaited’

cf. also:

PT	Maisin	moŋgi	‘Pandanus sp.’22
Mic	Kosraean	mᵚeŋ	‘pandanus’
Mic	Marshallese	māŋ	‘pandanus leaves’
Mic	Chuukese	mə̄ŋ	‘pandanus leaf, especially when softened by a shell’
Mic	Woleaian	māŋü	‘pandanus leaf’

2.5.4. Pandanus lamekotensis (Pandanaceae)⇫

Peekel (1984: 41) remarks that Pandanus lamekotensis is readily distinguished from other species. However, I have otherwise found it mentioned only by Kennedy & Clarke (2004), who provide no additional information, and it is possible that its distribution is limited to New Ireland. Indeed, Peekel did not find it in the south of New Ireland or on the Gazelle Peninsula of New Britain. It grows only on swampy creek banks, 4–7 m high with from 5 to 8 leaves, and its fruit clusters are oval, not ‘fingers’. The ripe fruits, like those of Pandanus tectorius are sometimes sucked by New Ireland villagers.

POc		*kaRi(q)ana	‘Pandanus lamekotensis’
Adm	Baluan	kayaŋ	‘pandanus sp. similar to Pandanus lamekotensis’
Adm	Nyindrou	kayaŋ	‘Pandanus sp.’
Adm	Bipi	kaihan	‘Pandanus sp.’
MM	East Kara	kaiat	‘Pandanus lamekotensis’ (-t for †-n)
MM	Nalik	kariat	‘Pandanus lamekotensis’ (-t for †-n) (Peekel 1984: 41)
MM	Madak	[va]keiŋ	‘Pandanus lamekotensis’
Mic	Kiribati	kaina	‘Pandanus tectorius’

2.5.5. Other names for Pandanus species⇫

The four reconstructions below each denoted a species or a variety of Pandanus, but the glosses do not allow us to determine which.

PCEMP		*ima	‘Pandanus sp. with leaves useful for plaiting’ (ACD)
POc		*ima	‘Pandanus sp. with useful leaves’
NNG	Gedaged	im	‘Pandanus sp.; has aerial roots, and its leaves are used to make rain capes’
NNG	Kis	im	‘bush pandanus’
PT	Gapapaiwa	imo(-kara)	‘bush pandanus’
MM	Tangga	im	‘tall shrub with many stalks, the leaves of which provide wrapping material for a corpse prior to burial’

POc		*(p,pʷ)asa(r,R)	‘large Pandanus sp.’
Adm	Drehet	pʷāh	‘large pandanus’
PT	Misima	pala	‘mat made: of pandanus’
MM	Babatana	(poro) basa	‘Pandanus sp.’
MM	Maringe	vahara	‘Pandanus conoideus’ (W. McClatchey, pers. comm.)
SES	Bugotu	vaha	‘Pandanus aff. compressus martalli’ (W. McClatchey, pers. comm.)
Pn	East Uvean	faha	‘Pandanus sp.’
Pn	Samoan	fasa	‘Pandanus tectorius’

PWOc		*(s,j)a(q,k)umu	‘Pandanus sp.’
NNG	Sio	samu	‘pandanus’
NNG	Tami	saŋ	‘pandanus’
NNG	Misim	seŋ	‘pandanus’
PT	Saliba	dam	‘indigenous Pandanus sp.’
MM	Varisi	saɣumu	‘pandanus’ (Record 1945)
MM	Babatana	samu	‘Pandanus dubius’

PWOc		*moke	‘Pandanus sp.’ (Peekel 1984: 41–42)
NNG	Kove	moe	‘Pandanus sp., used for sleeping mats, raincapes and sails’ (A. Chowning, pers. comm.)
NNG	Gitua	moge	‘pandanus’
MM	Bulu	moke	‘Pandanus sp., inedible’
MM	Bola	moke	‘pandanus umbrella’
MM	Nakanai	moe	‘Pandanus sp.; sleeping mat and rain cape made of pandanus; used for house walls’ (Arentz 1989:93)
MM	Sursurunga	mo	‘tree sp. similiar to pandanus with edible fruit; leaves used for making shelters’
MM	Patpatar	moh	‘pandanus shrub, Pandanus danckelmannianus’

2.6. Sterculia vitiensis (syn. Sterculia tannaensis) (Sterculiaceae)⇫

In a sense Sterculia vitiensis does not belong here, as it was not known to POc speakers. There are a number of small species of Sterculia in the Bismarcks and Solomons, but Sterculia vitiensis is a large canopy tree, up to 30m tall. It is found in the central and especially the southern islands of Vanuatu and in Fiji.

It is planted for its edible seeds (its wood is soft and not durable). The fruit is a large (9 x 7 cm) hollow capsule, light yellowish green when it is ripe, with a groove down one side which splits open to reveal a vermilion interior and a row of elongate (1-2 cm) glossy black seeds along the split edges. Sterculia vitiensis is not particularly abundant, and tends to be found in locations associated with human activity. The ripe seeds are grilled either in their shells or separately (Wheatley 1992: 230, 232, Walter & Sam 2002: 247-248).

Although the seeds of other species are sometimes eaten in the Bismarcks (Floyd 1954, Powell 1976), the only reconstructable name for a Sterculia species is, as one might expect, a PROc etymon, *wasi-wasi ‘Sterculia vitiensis’. There is a formally identical POc etymon, POc *wasi-wasi ‘Abroma augusta’. Abroma augusta is a small shrub (ch.7, §6.1.1) and Sterculia vitiensis a large tree, so it is not clear whether the two terms were innovated independently or have a common origin.

PROc		*wasi-wasi	‘Sterculia vitiensis’ (from data in Wheatley 1992, Lynch 2004a)
NCV	Ambae	wah-wah
NCV	Tangoa	(vitu)vaha
NCV	Raga	wahi-wahi
NCV	Apma	wah-wah
NCV	Tape	(vən)woso-wos	‘whitewood’
SV	Sye	wo-wo
SV	Lenakel	nə-vha-vha	23
SV	Anejom̃	n-woθ-waθ
Fij	Buca Bay	waði-waði	(J. Parham 1972)

2.7. Pangium edule, pangi, ankle-rattle tree, TP sis, solomon, B navangge, nalake (Flacourtiaceae)⇫

Pangium edule is included in this section because it is a cultivated tree (Peekel 1984: 384, Kennedy & Clarke 2004) and produces a fruit the flesh of which is eaten in some places. It is not a major food source.

The tree grows 25-30 m tall, with 3-5 triangular buttresses up to 1 m in height. Leaves are arranged in spirals at the ends of branches. The fruit of wild trees contains cyanogenetic glucosides and is poisonous, but the fruit of cultivated trees is edible (Peekel 1984: 384). The fruit, up to 15 cm long with a rough brown skin, is enclosed in a bright yellow mesocarp and green skin. It contains a number of red-brown seeds, each in its own very hard case, surrounded by a soft yellow strong-smelling pulp (French 1986: 193, Evans 1999: 19).

The seed is buried for 2-3 weeks in beach sand or soaked in fresh or salt water to make it edible, then roasted and fermented (Peekel 1984: 384, Hviding 2005: 121, Bourke & Allen forthcoming). The Sengseng of New Britain trade it as a delicacy (A. Chowning, pers. comm.). The practice of eating the seeds extends eastward as far as Marovo (Evans 1999:21), but Hviding does not mention their consumption. The seeds are a famine food in Vanuatu (Walter & Sam 2002: 47).

A well known use of Pangium edule seed cases in the Bismarcks, the Solomons and Vanuatu is in the manufacture of bangles and rattles for traditional dances. In the Solomons the leaves are heated in the fire and used to kill headlice. The wood is generally not regarded as suitable for construction (Henderson & Hancock 1988:246, Hviding 2005: 121).

The only reconstructable term for Pangium edule is PEOc *paRage. Given that the tree is present in the Bismarcks, it seems odd that no POc or PWOc term can be reconstructed, but this may be due to the absence of relevant data from the sources.

PEOc		*paRage	‘Pangium edule’
SES	Tolo	valage	‘k.o. larger seed pod worn to make noise while dancing’
SES	Kwara’ae	falake	‘Pangium edule’ (Whitmore 1966)
SES	Lau	falake	‘tree sp.; its seeds tied to legs in dancing’
SES	Kwaio	falage	‘rattle’
SES	Arosi	harage	‘sacred tree, has power to kill dogs’
NCV	Mwotlap	(wo)pyak	‘Pangium edule’
NCV	Mota	varake	‘tree sp .; its shells tied on the ankles as rattles in dancing’
NCV	Araki	lahe	‘Pangium edule’
NCV	Tamambo	varaŋe	‘Pangium edule’
NCV	Nduindui	vaŋe	‘Pangium edule’
NCV	Ambae	vake	‘Pangium edule’
NCV	Raga	vaŋe	‘Pangium edule’
NCV	Sakao	ne-vaɣ	‘Pangium edule’
NCV	Sa	wak	‘Pangium edule’
NCV	Nāti	ne-vaŋk	‘Pangium edule’
NCV	Port Sandwich	(vi)vaŋg	‘dance rattles’

3. Domesticated fruit trees⇫

3.1. Burckella obovata (syn. Bassia erskineana, Payena mentzelii, Illipe hollrungii), red silkwood, TP bukabuk, B naduldule, nandunde (Sapotaceae)⇫

Burckella obovata tends to grow on smaller islands. It occurs on the small islands west of Manus in the Admiralties, in New Ireland, in the island groups north and east of New Ireland, on the Duke of York Islands between New Britain and New Ireland, and on Buka and nearby small islands in Bougainville Province. It is also found in the Solomons on Malaita and in the Temotu Islands (and Hviding 2005: 111 reports its presence at Marovo) and in Vanuatu (Paijmans 1976: 124, Bourke n.d.). It is a tree of medium size, about 20–30 m. tall, with a massive trunk 1-3m in diameter at the base and white flowers that have a strong, somewhat sickening scent. It has large edible fruit that has a rose-petal-like smell and is consumed uncooked. In Vanuatu there are two main types of fruit: a more common elongated type, reputed to be sweeter, and a round, sometimes very large type. The latter has two subtypes, wrinkled and smooth. The smooth subtype is apparently the outcome of selection, and is always cultivated. In the Solomons and Vanuatu the fruit is harvested before it is ripe in order to beat the fruit bats (Walter & Sam 2002: 125). Two varieties grow in Marovo, wild and planted. Coconut crabs eat the fruit of the wild variety (Hviding 2005: 111).

In the Solomons and Vanuatu the wood is used for crossbeams in houses, for outrigger booms and for canoe paddles (Record 1945, Henderson & Hancock 1988:55, Walter & Sam 2002: 125). In Marovo it was formerly used for the keels of war canoes and is still sometimes used for making dugouts (Hviding 2005: 111).

The POc form *ñatu was first reconstructed by Blust (1978b) as an unnamed but described tree type. Further reflexes indicate that this is Burckella obovata, to which Gowers (1976: 38) gives the English designation ‘red silkwood’. Evidence for POc *-q is provided by Sye yetu and Ura ni-yere (John Lynch, pers. comm.), where preservation of the final vowel reflects the earlier presence of *-q.

The gloss of PMP *ñatuq below, ‘a hardwood tree taxon, including at least Palaquium spp.’, is inferred from the glosses of Blust’s supporting data. Species of Burckella and Palaquium and perhaps other genera seem to have been included in a single taxon throughout Oceanic history (see the discussion associated with PCP *bau ‘hardwood taxon’ in ch.7, §4.10).

PMP		*ñatuq	‘a hardwood tree taxon, including at least Palaquium spp.’ (Blust 1978b: 38-39)
POc		*ñatuq	‘Burckella obovata’ (Blust 1978b: 38-39: *ñatu; Ross 1996d)
Adm	Mussau	natu	‘Burckella obovata’
Adm	Nauna	ñot	‘tall timber tree with large sweet green fruit’
Adm	Titan	ñat	‘tall timber tree with large sweet green fruit’
Adm	Nyindrou	ñek	‘tall timber tree with large sweet green fruit’
Adm	Bipi	ñak	‘tall timber tree with large sweet green fruit’
Adm	Loniu	ñat	‘tall timber tree with large sweet green fruit’
Adm	Baluan	nout	‘Burckella obovata’
NNG	Takia	nat	‘tree (with edible nuts or fruit, also used for timber)’
NNG	Gedaged	nat	‘tree, Sapotaceae’
PT	Kilivila	natu	‘sp. of fruit tree’
PT	Muyuw	a-ntu-nat	‘Palaquium sp.’
PT	Wedau	natu	‘Malay apple, Eugenia megacarpa’
MM	East Kara	nətu	‘Burckella obovata’
MM	Sursurunga	nat	‘tree sp. with avocado-type fruit’
MM	Ramoaaina	natu	‘tree sp. with a large pulpy fruit like an apple’
MM	Nehan	not	‘Palaquium sp.; Burckella obovata’
MM	Babatana	natu	‘Burckella obovata’
MM	Nduke	natu	‘tree sp.’
MM	Kubokota	ñatu	‘Burckella obovata’
TM	Äiwoo	ñi-nou	‘Burckella obovata’
TM	Natügu	no-neu	‘Burckella obovata’
PEOc		*ñatuq	‘Burckella obovata’
SES	Sa’a	nau	‘a fruit tree, teak’
SES	Arosi	nau	‘tree sp., fruit is eaten’
NCV	Mwotlap	net	‘Burckella obovata’
NCV	Mota	natu	‘a fruit tree’
NCV	Araki	(vi)naru	‘Burckella obovata’
NCV	Uripiv	nor	‘Burckella obovata’
NCV	Paamese	a-natu	‘Burckella obovata’
NCV	Lewo	nar	‘Burckella obovata’
NCV	Nguna	na-natu	‘Burckella obovata’
PSV		*nə-yatuq	‘Burckella obovata’ (Lynch 2001c)
SV	Sye	yetu	‘Burckella obovata’
SV	Anejom̃	n-yat	‘Burckella obovata’
SV	Ura	ni-yere	‘Burckella obovata’
Pn	Rennellese	natu	‘Burckella obovata’
Pn	Tikopia	natu	‘Burckella obovata’
Pn	Anutan	natu	‘Burckella obovata’

3.2. Clymenia polyandra and Citrus spp. (Rutaceae)⇫

Barrau (1955: 85) considers that all edible species of the genus Citrus were introduced to Melanesia by Europeans, and R. M. Bourke’s (pers. comm.) research confirms this. We would not therefore expect to find a reconstructable POc term meaning ‘citrus’. But the reconstruction of POc *molis ‘citrus fruit’ is well-supported (Lynch 1984), and its reflexes are today used in many languages for several citrus species.

How are we to explain this? There are two possible answers. One is that *molis referred not to Citrus species but to citrus-like fruit indigenous to western Melanesia. Aburu (1982) reports on two indigenous citrus-like genera, Clymenia and Microcitrus in Papua New Guinea. French (1986: 232) describes Clymenia polyandra as a ‘Citrus relative’ whose fruit is yellow, the size of a large lime, and in some cases ‘sweet and pleasant-tasting’. The tree is 5-8 m tall. It is cultivated in Manus and New Ireland (where it was also recorded by Peekel (1984: 272)) and does not occur outside Papua New Guinea.

The alternative answer is that there were inedible or barely edible Citrus species in Melanesia before European contact, which have been largely replaced by imported edible species. A bush lemon, Citrus hystrix, with almost no edible flesh (French 1986: 226) may be one of these. We can only infer that POc *molis designated either citrus-like genera or inedible species of Citrus, or both.²⁴

POc		*molis	‘citrus fruit or citrus-like fruit, perhaps Clymenia polyandra’ (Lynch 1984)
Adm	Mussau	muli	‘citrus fruit’
Adm	Drehet	mʷili	‘citrus fruit: pomelo’
NNG	Atui	molis	‘citrus fruit’
NNG	Mangseng	mɔlis	‘citrus fruit’
MM	Vitu	moli	‘citrus fruit’
MM	Patpatar	mulis	‘citrus fruit’
MM	Nehan	molih	‘Clymenia polyandra’
MM	Halia	molihi	‘citrus fruit’
MM	Kia	mholi	‘Citrus sp.’
SES	Bugotu	moli	‘Citrus sinensis’ (W. McClatchey, pers. comm.)
SES	Lau	moli	‘introduced citrus fruit’
SES	Arosi	mori	‘wild orange’
NCV	Mwotlap	nı-mʷıl	‘Citrus medica’
NCV	Mota	mʷol	‘Citrus medica’
NCV	Tamambo	moli	‘orange’
NCV	Tape	mʷələs	‘citrus fruit’
NCV	Uripiv	na-mul	‘citrus fruit’
NCV	Port Sandwich	vi-mor	‘orange’
NCV	Lonwolwol	wo-mul	‘citrus fruit’
NCV	Paamese	a-moli	‘citrus fruit’
NCV	Lewo	mʷolu	‘citrus fruit’
NCV	Namakir	mol	‘citrus fruit’
NCV	Nguna	na-mwoli	‘citrus fruit’
PSV		*ne-molis	‘citrus fruit’ (Lynch 2001c)
SV	Sye	ne-mli	‘citrus fruit’
SV	Lenakel	nə-məlh	‘citrus fruit’
SV	Southwest Tanna	(kʷa)n-məlh	‘citrus fruit’
SV	Kwamera	nə-mərhi	‘citrus fruit’
SV	Anejom̃	ne-pceθ	‘citrus fruit’ (p unexplained)
Fij	Wayan	moli	‘citrus fruit (generic)’

3.3. Corynocarpus cribbianus (syn. Corynocarpus australasicus, Corynocarpus cribbiana, Helicia cribbiana) (Cocynocarpaceae)⇫

A small fruit tree which was apparently cultivated in the past, Corynocarpus cribbianus is reported from the Admiralties, from offshore islands around Madang (north coast of New Guinea), from Tangga Island (east of New Ireland) and in the Solomons from Guadalcanal and Malaita, but apparently not in New Britain or New Ireland.²⁵ It grows to a height of 7-10 m on Tangga Island, but sometimes to 20m elsewhere in Papua New Guinea. The mango-shaped fruit, 10–12cm long and 8-10cm in diameter, grow in clusters at the ends of branches. They are sweet but not juicy, and eaten raw or boiled. Two varieties are reported from Tangga and Kwara’ae: one has red, pear-shaped fruit, the other white and more ovoid. Corynocarpus cribbianus continues to be grown from seed in some places but has become rare in the Solomons, where it was apparently more widely cultivated in the past. Today it is only a snack food for hunters in the forest (French 1986:234, O’ Collins & Lamothe 1989, Kwa’ioloa & Burt 2001: 168).

Yen (1974a) reports a previously domesticated species of Corynocarpus on Santa Cruz Island (Te Motu group, Solomon Islands). This may well have been Corynocarpus similis, which grows wild under the forest canopy in parts of Vanuatu and is cultivated there. Indeed, Walter and Sam’s (2002: 152-153) description could easily be a description of Corynocarpus cribbianus, right down to its two varieties. Today it is regularly eaten only on the Torres Islands, where it was formerly cultivated and the fruits eaten boiled just before they became ripe, and on Tanna. Elsewhere it is a famine food. The wood is used for digging sticks or utensil handles.

POc *i(u)bu ‘Corynocarpus cribbianus’ is tentatively reconstructed - ‘tentatively’ because the forms shown under ‘cf. also’ appear to be formally connected with the members of this set, suggesting a PEOc *tabʷV, but the history of these forms or their relationship to the apparent reflexes of *i(u)bu is unclear.

POc		*i(u)bu	‘Corynocarpus cribbianus’
Adm	Nyindrou	ñ-iubu	‘Corynocarpus sp.’ (O’Collins and Lamothe 1989)
MM	Roviana	ib-ibu	‘Cleidion spiciflorum’ (Henderson and Hancock 1988)
TM	Äiwoo	(nua)dabu	‘Corynocarpus cribbianus’ (Henderson and Hancock 1988)
SES	Kwara’ae	ibo	‘Corynocarpus cribbianus’ (Henderson and Hancock 1988)
SES	Kwaio	ibo	‘Corynocarpus cribbianus’ (Henderson and Hancock 1988)

cf. also:

SES	Lengo	tebu	‘Corynocarpus cribbianus’(Henderson and Hancock 1988)
SES	To’aba’ita	tebu	‘Corynocarpus cribbianus’(Henderson and Hancock 1988)
NCV	Tamambo	tabʷea	‘Corynocarpus similis’(Walter and Sam 2002)
NCV	Apma	tabʷi	‘Corynocarpus similis’(Walter and Sam 2002)

3.4. Mangifera spp., mango (Anacardiaceae)⇫

We cannot be completely sure of the original referents of the five mango terms reconstructed below. When Austronesian speakers arrived in the Bismarcks, they encountered the fibrous and ill-tasting indigenous mangoes Mangifera minor and Mangifera foetida. The sweet-tasting Mangifera indica, the species widely consumed today, arrived with Europeans after about 1870 (Bourke forthcoming).

It is possible that PMP *pahuq referred to Mangifera indica and PMP *wai to other Mangifera species (ACD). I have found only two reflexes of PMP *pahuq in Oceanic languags, namely Vitu vau and Bola vao. Vitu (in the French Islands, north of New Britain) is among the most conservative of Oceanic languages, and has remained quite isolated at least since early in the spread of the Western Oceanic dialect network. Bola is close by on New Britain. One may infer that *pau(q) occurred in POc, but not with the gloss ‘Mangifera indica’. It was replaced at a very early stage by *wai, as this was the appropriate term for the indigenous (non-indica) species, with *wai-wai perhaps denoting wild varieties (§7.2). The species Mangifera minor was specifically designated by POc *koRa.

Mangifera minor, the traditional wild mango indigenous to the Bismarcks, is 10-25 m tall. The introduced Mangifera indica needs a drier period each year to bear, whereas Mangifera minor does not, and so the latter continues to be eaten mainly in locations where Mangifera indica does not bear regularly. It is occasionally cultivated from seed. Its leaves are narrower than those of M . indica (Peekel 1984: 326, French 1986:206–207, Bourke in preparation, n.d.).

PMP		*pahuq	‘mango, probably Mangifera indica’ (Dyen 1953)
POc		*pau(q)	‘mango, Mangifera sp. (not indica)’ (Ross 1996d)
MM	Vitu	vau	‘mango’
MM	Bola	vao	‘mango’ (Arentz et al. 1989: 91)

PMP		*wai	‘mango spp.’ (Blust 1986)
POc		*wai, *waiwai	‘mango (generic)’ (Ross 1996d)
Adm	Titan	we-wey	‘mango’
Adm	Baluan	wie	‘mango’
NNG	Gitua	wo-wai	‘mango’
NNG	Mangap	we	‘mango’
NNG	Tami	woa-wai	‘mango’
NNG	Gitua	wo-wai	‘mango’
NNG	Mangap	we	‘mango’
PT	Kilivila	wei-wa	‘mango’
PT	Hula	wai-wai	‘mango’
SES	Arosi	wai-wai	‘sp. of small tree’

POc		*koRa	‘wild mango, Mangifera minor’ (Ross 1996d)
NNG	Mengen	kula	‘mango; has strings in it, Mangifera minor(?)’
PT	Roro	or-or	‘mango’
MM	Tolai	ko-kor	‘Mangifera minor(?)’
SES	Gela	kola	‘mango’

PWOc *kasuwai ‘mango’ seems to be a compound, with an unidentified element *kasu- and *wai ‘mango’. The SE Solomons terms below reflect PSES *ɣohai, which in turn reflects a putative POc †*koyai. However, PSES *ɣohai probably reflects the borrowing of a reflex of *kasuwai, perhaps before the dispersal of PSES, as the terms are regular reflexes of *ɣohai.

PWOc		*kasuwai	‘mango’ (Ross 1996d)
NNG	Kove	korae	‘mango’ (A. Chowning, pers. comm.)
PT	Dobu	kasawe	‘mango’
PT	Tawala	kasawe	‘mango’
MM	Patpatar	kasaua	‘mango, Mangifera indica’
MM	Bulu	korae	‘mango’
MM	Tolai	koai	‘mango’
MM	Siar	kaswai	‘mango’
MM	Banoni	dasowe	‘mango’ (for †_zasowe)
MM	Blablanga	kesu	‘mango’

cf. also:

SES	West Guadalcanal	ɣoai	‘mango’
SES	Longgu	ʔeðai	‘mango’
SES	Arosi	ʔāi	‘mango’
SES	Fagani	ɣāi	‘mango’

PWOc		*basi	‘mango’ (Ross 1996d)
PT	Tawala	basi(awa)	‘mango’
PT	Sudest	mbaði	‘mango’
MM	Teop	bai	‘mango’
MM	Tinputz	pᴂʔ	‘mango’

3.5. Pometia pinnata, ocean lychee, island lychee, TP ton, taun, P obit, inkori, B nandao (Sapindaceae)⇫

Pometia pinnata, an ancient New Guinea domesticate (Yen 1996), is a tall canopy hardwood tree of 20–45 m (Figure 11.9, left). Peekel (1984: 335) writes that its fruit, green or red and 4–6cm in diameter, the sweet pulp of which similar in taste and texture to a lychee and is eaten raw, is the most valued in the Bismarck Archipelago after the Malay apple. The skin of the ripe fruit is peeled off like that of a mandarin. The pulp surrounds a seed, up to 3 cm in diameter, which is poisonous and requires extensive processing and cooking before it can be eaten. French (1986: 215) reports that there are also varieties of Pometia pinnata with inedible flesh.

Pometia pinnata displays considerable variety in form, especially in the New Guinea region, attesting to long cultivation. Walter & Sam (20102: 229-230) report that its better forms are often transplanted in the Bismarcks and in Vanuatu but apparently less so in the Solomons. There are also widespread reports that it makes good building timber (Floyd 1954, Gowers 1976: 118, French 1986: 215). The wood is also used for carving on Waya (Gardner & Pawley 2006), and its plank buttresses provide axe handles in Marovo (Hviding 2005: 129).

The POc term for Pometia pinnata was *tawan, reflected in all major Oceanic subgroups except Micronesian.

PEMP		*tawan	‘Pometia pinnata’ (Blust 1978a)
POc		*tawan	‘Pometia pinnata’
Adm	Mussau	taon	‘Pometia pinnata’
Adm	Lou	ta	‘Pometia pinnata’
NNG	Mengen	taua	‘Pometia pinnata’
NNG	Gedaged	tau	‘tree sp. with edible fruit; stem makes good timber.’
NNG	Matukar	ta	‘Pometia pinnata’ (Kasprus 1945)
NNG	Megiar	tau(ber)	‘Pometia pinnata’ (Kasprus 1945)
PT	Bwaidoga	tawana	‘tree sp.’
MM	Lavongai	ton	‘Pometia pinnata’
MM	East Kara	tawən	‘Pometia pinnata’
MM	Lihir	ta	‘Pometia pinnata’
MM	Sursurunga	tawan	‘Pometia pinnata’
MM	Patpatar	tawan	‘Pometia pinnata’
MM	Tolai	ton	‘Pometia pinnata’
MM	Tangga	taun	‘Pometia pinnata’
MM	Sursurunga	taoana	‘a hardwood tree’
MM	Petats	tan	‘Pometia pinnata’
MM	Teop	tauana	‘Pometia pinnata’
TM	Natügu	no-dae	‘Pometia pinnata’
PEOc		*tawan	‘Pometia pinnata’
SES	Lengo	tao	‘Pometia pinnata’ (Henderson and Hancock 1988)
SES	Arosi	awa	‘Pometia pinnata’
SES	Sa’a	awa	‘Nephelium pinnatum’
SES	Kwara’ae	ako	‘Pometia pinnata’
SES	Kwara’ae	dawa	‘Pometia pinnata’ (borrowed form)
NCV	Mwotlap	na-twen	‘Pometia pinnata’
NCV	Mota	tawan	‘Pometia pinnata’
NCV	Ambae	dao	‘Pometia pinnata’
NCV	Araki	(vi)ca	‘Pometia pinnata’
NCV	Raga	dao	‘Pometia pinnata’ (Walsh 2004)
NCV	Big Nambas	da-dau	‘Pometia pinnata’
NCV	Port Sandwich	na-ⁿrao	‘Pometia pinnata’
NCV	Namakir	to	‘Pometia pinnata’
NCV	Nguna	na-dau	‘Pometia pinnata’
PSV		*na-ntawa(n)	‘Pometia pinnata’ (Lynch 2001c)
SV	Sye	ntau	‘Pometia pinnata’
SV	Lenakel	natəm	‘Pometia pinnata’ (-m unexplained)
SV	Kwamera	nətumʷi	‘Pometia pinnata’ (-mʷi unexplained)
SV	Anejom̃	netva	‘Pometia pinnata’
PCP		*tawa	‘Pometia pinnata’
Fij	Wayan	tawa	‘Pometia pinnata’
Fij	Bauan	dawa	‘Pometia pinnata’
Pn	Tongan	tava	‘Pometia pinnata’
Pn	Niuean	tava	‘Pometia pinnata’
Pn	Samoan	tava	‘Pometia pinnata’
Pn	East Futunan	tava	‘Pometia pinnata’
Pn	Emae	tava	‘Pometia pinnata’
Pn	Tikopia	tava	‘Pometia pinnata’
Pn	Tuamotuan	tava	‘Pandanus sp.’
Pn	Māori	tawa	‘Beilschmiedia tawa’

3.6. Spondias cytherea (syn. Spondias dulcis, Spondias mangifera), golden apple, Polynesian plum, hog plum, Tahitian apple, Bnaos (Anacardiaceae)⇫

Spondias cytherea is a lowland sub canopy tree of medium height, 10-25 m. tall, distributed from island SE Asia to western Polynesia, and occurring in several varieties, a probable result of domestication (Figure 11.9, right). Within the Bismarcks it occurs mainly in the Admiralties, on Mussau Island and in New Ireland (Bourke n.d.). The tree is widely cultivated near villages in the Bismarcks, the Solomons (mainly in the Reeflslands) and Vanuatu, but is also spread by fruit bats (Henderson & Hancock 1988:47, Walter & Sam 2002:243-244, French 1986: 219).

The mature tree has a long trunk of up to 20 m with large buttresses up to 3 m. Its small white flowers grow in clusters, and it has yellow or orange ellipsoid fruit, up to 7cm long. According to Henderson & Hancock (1988: 47) there are two varieties. The fruit of one are acidic and bitter, of the other slightly tart but pleasant to eat. The former are baked before eating, whilst the latter are eaten raw. Hviding (2005: 135) reports of the second variety that in Marovo the fruit are best eaten when unripe and rather sour. In Vanuatu the fruit are of better quality than in the Bismarcks and the Solomons. They are picked while still green, just before they ripen, and eaten a few days later after they have ripened inside the house.

The wood is too soft for use in buildings, but in Vanuatu it is used to make canoe outriggers. It has a variety of medicinal uses: a decoction from the leaves is used for coughs and other ailments (Henderson & Hancock 1988: 49).

There was a single widely reflected POc term, *quRis. I have assumed below that the PCP form was *wi, with irregular loss of *q- from expected †*qul. However, loss of *q- is regular in Fijian, and so Fijian wī is a regular reflex of either proto form. Geraghty (2004: 87) suggests that the PCP form was indeed *qui and that the Polynesian forms reflect borrowing from Fijian - but such a borrowing would have had to occur very early, to find its way to the extremes of Polynesia. It seems more likely that the PCP indeed had *wī.

POc		*quRis	‘Spondias cytherea’ (Grace 1969 (Wilhelm Milke, pers. comm.: *quRi); Ross 1996d)
Adm	Loniu	wi	‘Spondias cytherea’
NNG	Mengen	kuli	‘Spondias cytherea’
PT	Motu	uri	‘Garuga sp.’ (Lane-Poole 1925) 26
MM	Nakanai	huri	‘Spondias cytherea’
MM	East Kara	us	‘Spondias cytherea’
MM	Patpatar	kulis	‘Spondias cytherea’
MM	Tolai	kuri	‘Spondias cytherea’
TM	Natügu	n-oli	‘Spondias cytherea’
SES	Lau	uli	‘Spondias cytherea’
SES	Kwaio	uli	‘Spondias cytherea’
NCV	Mwotlap	ıy	‘Spondias cytherea’
NCV	Mota	ur	‘Spondias cytherea’
NCV	Vera’a	n-ur	‘Spondias cytherea’
PSV		*na-viris	‘Spondias cytherea’ (Lynch 21004a)
SV	Sye	ne-viwi	‘Spondias cytherea’
SV	Ura	(u)vasele	‘Spondias cytherea’ (metathesis)
SV	Kwamera	nə-kori	‘Dracontomelon vitiensis’
SV	Anejom̃	n-huri	‘Dracontomelon vitiensis’
PCP		*wī	‘Spondias cytherea’
Fij	Bauan	wī	‘Spondias cytherea’
Pn	Tongan	vī	‘Spondias cytherea’
Pn	Niuean	vī	‘Spondias cytherea’
Pn	East Futunan	vī	‘Spondias cytherea’
Pn	Emae	vī	‘Spondias cytherea’
Pn	Rennellese	bī	‘Spondias cytherea’
Pn	Tikopia	vī	‘Spondias cytherea’
Pn	Samoan	vī	‘Spondias cytherea’
Pn	Tokelauan	vī	‘mango species found only in Samoa’
Pn	Rapanui	bi	‘Indian mango tree, Mangifera indica’
Pn	Marquesan	vī	‘Spondias cytherea’
Pn	Mangarevan	vī	‘Spondias cytherea’
Pn	Hawaiian	vī	‘Spondias cytherea’
Pn	Tahitian	vī	‘Spondias cytherea’
Pn	Rarotongan	vī	‘Spondias cytherea’

In the Bismarcks an imported thorny shrub, Ximenia americana (syn. X. elliptica, X. aculeata),²⁷ is evidently perceived as resembling Spondias cytherea, to judge from the names below. The resemblance is based on the fact that Ximenia americana also has edible yellow ellipsoid fruit, but no larger than a cherry (Peekel 1984: 160). E Kara combines the POc prefix *mala- ‘resembling’ (ch.2, §7.1.4) and ukis ‘Spondias cytherea’. The base ukis is the reflex of POc *quRis ‘Spondias cytherea’ that would be expected in Tigak, immediately to the north of Kara. Further south, in Patpatar, the term for Ximenia americana is ku-kuris, the reduplication implying that Ximenia americana is an inferior or wild version of Spondias cytherea (ch.2, §7 .2).

MM	East Kara	mala-ukis	‘Ximenia americana’ (‘false Spondias cytherea’)
MM	Patpatar	ku-kuris	‘Ximenia americana’ (‘small Spondias cytherea’)
MM	Tolai	kuri-val	‘Ximenia americana’ (kuri ‘Spondias cytherea’)(Record 1945)

PNCV *usi below appears to be an irregular reflex of POc *quRis. Two possible explanations present themselves. First, *(q)usi is a metathesised reflex of *quRis (> †*uis > *usi). Second, although POc final consonants were regularly lost in PNCV, Clark (2009) points to a dozen or so words in which the expected CVCV form exists alongside an extended form CVCVCV, representing the full POc form with an added vowel, most often *-i. The extended forms, for which Clark offers no explanation, are found throughout North Vanuatu and north Malakula, but without much consistency in any one language. One of these, in the form he reconstructs, is *quRisi, which with regular deletion of POc *q- and *-R- gives *u(i)si.

Some of these reflexes are (also) used to denote the pawpaw/papaya, Carica papaya, a recent introduction; this reflects a perception in Vanuatu that Spondias cytherea and papaya are similar and somehow related.

PNCV		*usi	‘Spondias cytherea’ (from data in Wheatley 1992)
NCV	Nduindui	uhi	‘Spondias cytherea’
NCV	Nduindui	uhi(gai)	(gai ‘tree’)
NCV	Ambae	uhi	‘Carica papaya’
NCV	Tangoa	(vi)usi	‘Spondias cytherea’
NCV	Nokuku	o-usi	‘Spondias cytherea’
NCV	Tolomako	na-us	‘Spondias cytherea’
NCV	Kiai	usi	‘Spondias cytherea’
NCV	Raga	uhi	‘Spondias cytherea, Carica papaya’
NCV	Uripiv	na-us	‘Spondias cytherea, Carica papaya’
NCV	Nese	na-us	‘Spondias cytherea’
NCV	Southwest Bay	ni-vus(-saruei)	‘Spondias cytherea’

There are two possible external cognates of the PNCV etymon below. The first is Mussau (Adm) malai ‘Spondias cytherea’ (Lepofsky 1992). However, Mussau -ai does not correspond regularly with Paamese, Nguna -i. The second is Wayan (Fij) māoli ‘Spondias cytherea’, but Wayan -āo- does not correspond regularly with PNCV *-a-. In parts of northern Vanuatu the term has been reapplied to Dracontomelon vitiense (ch.7, §4.4).

PNCV		*mali	‘Spondias cytherea’ (Clark 1996)
NCV	Nokuku	mal	‘Dracontomelon vitiense’
NCV	Araki	(vi)nᫀali	‘Dracontomelon’
NCV	Port Sandwich	mar(kokoc)	‘Spondias cytherea’
NCV	Lonwolwol	mel	‘a large tree with yellow edible fruit’
NCV	Southeast Ambrym	mal	‘Dracontomelon vitiense’
NCV	Paamese	mali-mali	‘Spondias cytherea’
NCV	Lewo	(puru)mel-mel	‘Spondias cytherea’
NCV	Baki	(bur)mel-mel	‘Spondias cytherea’
NCV	Namakir	mali-mal	‘Spondias cytherea’
NCV	Nguna	na-mali	‘Spondias cytherea’
NCV	South Efate	n-mal	‘Spondias cytherea, S. edulis’

Also puzzling is the connection between PNCV *mali and the items for Garuga floribunda listed below. There is reason to think that this is not a chance resemblance, as the PROc term *mala-usi ‘Garuga sp.’ literally meant ‘like Spondias cytherea’ (ch.7, §4.8), i.e. there was/is a perceived resemblance between Garuga and Spondias species. We cannot simply include the items below in the cognate set for PNCV *mali above, however, as the Paamese, Lewo and S Efate reflexes of *mal-mali differ from their reflexes of *mali.

PNCV		*mal-mali	‘Garuga floribunda’
NCV	Mwotlap	na-mal-mali (ey)	‘Garuga floribunda’
NCV	Paamese	e-imoumol	‘Garuga floribunda’
NCV	Lewo	(puru)mal-mal	‘Garuga floribunda’
NCV	Baki	(buru)mar-maro	‘Garuga floribunda’
NCV	South Efate	n(a)-mal-mil	‘Garuga floribunda’

3.7. Syzygium malaccense (syn. Eugenia malaccensis, Eugenia jambos, jambosa malaccensis), Malay apple, rose apple, TP laulau, P kabarae, B nakavika (Myrtaceae)⇫

Many Syzygium species which occur in the Pacific have edible fruit. The most important is Syzygium malaccense, which is distributed from SE Asia to Polynesia, but Peekel (1984: 408-415) and Walter & Sam (2002: 251-252) list numerous species which occur in NW Island Melanesia.

Syzygium malaccense is an erect tree of medium height, 5-25 m tall, with spectacular white or pink flowers that look like small powder puffs and ellipsoid two-seeded fruit 4–9cm long that are white, pink or red when they are mature. The fruit approach a European apple in texture, but are often more watery in flavour. They are widely and, to quote Sorensen, ‘avidly’ consumed throughout the Pacific (Sorensen 1950, Peekel 1984: 408, Walter & Sam 2002: 250, Bourke in preparation). They are eaten fresh, soon after picking. Syzygium malaccense is found around villages and in coconut groves, in gardens and old fallows, and in open forests, although it is not clear whether it is indigenous to Melanesia or whether cultivated varieties have simply propagated themselves into the wild. Transplantation of better forms to village and garden areas is widespread (Paijmans 1976: 123-124, Walter & Sam 2002: 250). The wood is used for buildings in Vanuatu and Fiji, and for canoes in Vanuatu. Juice extracted from the leaves is used for abdominal pains, sore throats, toothache and generally for pain and fever (Henderson & Hancock 1988: 43-44, Walter & Sam 2002: 250).

The POc term for Syzygium malaccense was *kapika, reflected in all major Oceanic subgroups except Micronesian. It may also have served as a generic for Syzygium species in general.

POc		*kapika	‘Malay apple, rose apple, Syzygium malaccense’ (Milke 1968)
Adm	Mussau	kaviu	‘Syzygium samarangense’ (-u for †-a)
Adm	Seimat	ahi	‘Syzygium sp.’ (Sorensen 1950)
Adm	Lou	keik	‘large variety of Malay apple, Syzygium gomata’28
PWOc		*kapika	‘Syzygium malaccense’
NNG	Mengen	gaiva	‘rose apple, Syzygium malaccense’
NNG	Tami	kapig	‘rose apple, Syzygium malaccense’
NNG	Yabem	àiŋ	‘rose apple’
PT	Motu	ɣavika	‘name of tree sp., leaves of which are used as cigarette wrappers’
MM	Nakanai	gaiva	‘Syzygium malaccense’ (Floyd 1954)
MM	Bola	kavika	‘Syzygium malaccense’
MM	Bulu	kavika	‘Syzygium malaccense’
MM	Babatana	kapika	‘Syzygium malaccense’
PEOc		*kapika	‘Syzygium malaccense’
SES	Gela	ɣaviɣa	‘Syzygium malaccense’
SES	Kwara’ae	ʔafiʔo	‘Syzygium malaccense’
SES	Lau	afio	‘Syzygium onesimum’
NCV	Mota	gaviga	‘Syzygium malaccense, wild inedible variety’
NCV	Araki	haviha	‘Syzygium malaccense’
NCV	Tamambo	haviha	‘Malay apple’
NCV	Raga	ɣaviɣa	‘Malay apple (Walsh 2004)’
NCV	Uripiv	n-avi	‘Malay apple’
NCV	Port Sandwich	xavik	‘Malay apple’
NCV	Paamese	ahie	‘Malay apple’
NCV	Lewo	kavika	‘Malay apple’
NCV	Namakir	kavik	‘Malay apple’
NCV	Nguna	na-kavika	‘Malay apple’
NCV	South Efate	n-kafik	‘Malay apple’
PSV		*na-ɣaviɣ	‘Syzygium malaccense’ (Lynch 2001c)
SV	Lenakel	nə-kəvək	‘Syzygium malaccense’
SV	Anejom̃	n-yeheɣ	‘Syzygium malaccense’
NCal	Pije	cāk	‘Syzygium malaccense’
NCal	Iaai	xəiə	‘Syzygium malaccense’
NCal	Nyelâyu	cāc	‘Syzygium malaccense’
NCal	Xârâcùù	kʌɨ	‘Syzygium malaccense’
PCP		*kavika	‘Syzygium malaccense’
Fij	Wayan	kavika	‘Syzygium malaccense’
Fij	Bauan	kavika	‘Syzygium malaccense’
Pn	Tongan	fekika	‘Syzygium malaccense’ (metathesis)
Pn	Niuean	kafika	‘Syzygium sp.’
Pn	Anutan	kapika	‘Syzygium malaccense’
Pn	East Futunan	kafika	‘Syzygium malaccense’
Pn	East Uvean	kafika	‘Syzygium malaccense’
Pn	Tikopia	kafika	‘Syzygium malaccense’
Pn	Marquesan	kehika	‘Syzygium malaccense’
Pn	Mangarevan	keʔika	‘Syzygium malaccense’
Pn	Tahitian	ʔahiʔa	‘Syzygium malaccense’
Pn	Hawaiian	ʔoohia(ʔai)	‘Syzygium malaccense’
Pn	Hawaiian	ʔoohia(lehua)	‘Metrosideros spp.’
Pn	Rarotongan	kaʔika	‘Syzygium malaccense’
Pn	Māori	kahika	‘Metrosideros fulgens, Dacrycarpus dacrydioides’ (R. Gardner, pers. comm.)

The three more narrowly distributed cognate sets below reflect other terms for Syzygium species. Whether these denoted cultivars of Syzygium malaccense or other species, it is impossible to say.

POc		*poka(q)	‘variety of Malay apple’
Adm	Mussau	oā	‘small variety of Malay apple, Syzygium gomata’
NNG	Bariai	poai	‘Syzygium sp.’ (Goulden 1996)
NNG	Kilenge	pokai	‘Syzygium sp.’ (Goulden 1996)

POc		*mari(a)sapa	‘Syzygium sp.’
Adm	Nyindrou	marisah	‘Syzygium sp.’
MM	Patpatar	mariasa	‘Syzygium acutangulum’ (for †_mariasaha)

cf. also:

MM

Nehan

mariah

‘Alpinia sp.’

PAdm		*cay	‘Syzygium sp. with large red fruit’
Adm	Baluan	sai	‘Syzygium malaccense’
Adm	Wuvulu	tae	‘Syzygium sp. with large red fruit’
Adm	Loniu	cay	‘Syzygium sp. with large red fruit’
Adm	Titan	cay	‘Syzygium sp. with large red fruit’

4. Other nut and fruit trees⇫

This section is devoted to nut- or fruit-bearing species that are popularly eaten in at least parts of NW Island Melanesia but for which there is no evidence of arboriculture.

In several cases, the literature on plant food production describes species for which we have been unable to reconstruct a term. These are:

• Flacourtia rukam is a small tree with a twisted trunk and red spherical fruits of 2cm diameter, distributed from island SE Asia to the Solomons but found cultivated further east. The fruit is occasionally eaten (Walter & Sam 2002: 173-174, Bourke n.d.).
• Pouteria maclayana is a common, self-sown, small, buttressed coastal tree with a bushy crown that grows in New Guinea, on offshore islands along its north coast and in the southeastern Solomon Islands. Its yellow-fleshed fruit, shaped like a flattened sphere, is occasionally eaten raw, in some places as a famine food (Henderson & Hancock 1988: 142-143, Walter & Sam 2002:233, Bourke n.d. ). Allen et al. (1994) list it among previously important foods on Karkar Island.
• Castanopsis acuminatissima is a tall oak-like tree whose seeds are a traditional forest food, eaten after boiling in New Guinea, New Britain and perhaps parts of the Solomons (Henty 1982, Evans 1999: 19).
• Omphalea gageana (syn. 0. papuana, 0. queenslandiae) is an uncommon large woody, high-climbing forest creeper, 20–30 m. long. Its fruit has three seeds enclosed in a thin fleshy mesocarp and a ridged undulating woody shell, which are eaten raw or cooked around the Huon Gulf and in SE Papua (Henty 1982, Peekell984: 317, Henderson & Hancock 1988: 76, Evans 1999: 19).
• Gnetum latifolium is another large woody, high-climbing forest creeper, 5-20 m long, with yellow-red fruits, the seeds of which are eaten after roasting (Peekel 1984: 37, Henderson & Hancock 1988:78, Evans 1999: 20).

Nut and fruit trees 3 51

The distributions of some of the above are such that they may have been unknown to speakers of POc, but it is also possible that our sources are not detailed enough to provide us with the data needed to support a reconstruction.

The fruits of several species of Ficus are eaten. Bourke (n.d.) names Ficus copiosa, Ficus tinctoria and Ficus wassa. These are treated in ch.lO, §4.

4.1. Finschia chloroxantha (syn. Finschia waterhousiana, Finschia densiflora, Grevillea densiflora) (Proteaceae)⇫

Finschia chloroxantha is a medium-sized lowland rain forest tree with a blackish trunk and stilt roots (Figure 11.11, right). When it blooms it makes a spectacular display of bright orange or light golden yellow pendulous flowers. Its seeds are edible, eaten raw as snacks in the Solomons and after cooking in New Guinea. Its red-brown wood is strong and is used for timber, furniture and drums in the Solomons. Its leaves were used to treat sores and ulcers on Santa Isabel (Henty 1982, Henderson & Hancock 1988:74–76, Evans 1999: 19, Kwa’ioloa & Burt 2001: 124).

The cognate set below allows only a PEOc reconstruction. The one Western Oceanic item, Maringe ɣlama, is probably a borrowing from a neighbouring SE Solomonic language, especially as Maringe ɣl- typically reflects POc *l-, not *g-. The species is not mentioned by Peekel (1984), a major source of botanical terms from New Ireland.

MM

Maringe

ɣlama

‘Finschia chloroxantha’(Henderson and Hancock 1988: 74)

PEOc		*gama	‘Finschia chloroxantha’
SES	Kwara’ae	(a)kama	‘Finschia chloroxantha’
SES	Lau	(a)kame	‘Finschia densiflora’
NCV	Tamambo	(vu)kame	‘Finschia chloroxantha’ (Walter and Sam 2002: 293)
NCV	Apma	(wa)gam	‘Finschia chloroxantha’
PSV		*na-(i)gam	‘Finschia chloroxantha’ (Lynch 2001c)
SV	Sye	ne-iŋkom	‘Finschia chloroxantha’
SV	Anejom̃	n-ikam	‘Finschia chloroxantha’

4.2. Parartocarpus venenosa (syn. Parartocarpus involucrata) (Moraceae)⇫

Parartocarpus venenosa is a large lowland forest tree growing to about 35m, with girths of over 1.5 m, which resembles the breadfruit (Figure 11.11, left) (ch.9, §4). Its fruit is brown or yellow and highly aromatic; it forms an irregularly shaped syncarp about 18cm across, a compound fruit with many segments about 3cm long arranged around the core, and is eaten raw. It is especially popular in New Britain, but there is no record of cultivation. Elsewhere in lowland New Guinea, the Bismarcks and the Solomons it is generally less significant but is known and consumed (Barrau 1962: 177, Paijmans 1976: 124, Peekel 1984: 132, Bourke in preparation, French 1986: 259). Henderson & Hancock (1988) report that it is not very sweet and has a powdery texture: it is filling but not succulent. Its timber is generally not regarded as useful.

Although reflexes of PWOc *lapuka mean ‘breadfruit’ in some languages, the fact that there were at least two other POc terms for breadfruit (ch.9, §4) suggests that the reflexes glossed ‘Parartocarpus venenosa’ retain the POc denotation. Kwara’ae rakʷa-na is irregular, with initial r- for expected †l- and suffixed -na (medial -kʷ- is a regular reflex of *-pʷ-). Araki levu is irregular with -e- for †-a-.

PWOc		*lapuka	‘k.o. tree with fruit similar to breadfruit, Parartocarpus venenosa’ (?)
NNG	Takia	lou	‘k.o. breadfruit’
NNG	Kaiwa	lavuk	‘breadfruit, Artocarpus altilis’
NNG	Medebur	lapu	‘breadfruit, Artocarpus altilis’
PT	Are	napo	‘breadfruit’
MM	Notsi	lipua	‘breadfruit’
MM	Sursurunga	lapu	‘tree type whose fruit, similiar to a breadfruit, is yellow and sweet and is eaten raw (possibly Parartocarpus venenonus)’
MM	Patpatar	lapuo	‘Parartocarpus venenosa’
MM	Tolai	lapua	‘Parartocarpus venenosa’

cf. also:

SES	Kwara’ae	rakʷa-na	‘Parartocarpus venenosa’
NCV	Araki	levu	‘breadfruit, Artocarpus altilis’

Notes⇫