Chapter 3.5 Wild plants of the coastal strand

Malcolm Ross

1. Introduction⇫

Tropical coastal habitats are of two kinds, depending on whether or not fresh as well as salt water is available along the coastal strip. If fresh water is available, then a mangrove swamp may occur (chapter 6). If there is no fresh water or if mangroves are removed by human agency, a beach is formed.¹ In NW Island Melanesia beaches are usually sandy (rather than pebbly) and range from almost white, from the erosion of coral reefs and shells, to almost black, from the erosion of volcanic rocks. A beach creates an environment for coastal strand vegetation, which typically consists of three zones, the first two usually forming quite narrow bands:²

• herbaceous zone (§3);
• beach scrub (§4);
• littoral forest (§5).

There is sometimes also an underwater zone in the coastal shallows which is home to seagrasses and seaweeds.

Where the coast is gradually being built out by the accretion of sand, a succession of ridges develops, parallel to the beach. Ridges closer to the beach are typically about two metres high (Paijmans 1976: 27-28). The herbaceous zone begins at the high-tide mark and occupies the beach up to the first ridge. It has a cover of creeping plants which include Ipomoea pes-caprae (§3 .1), Canavalia rosea (syn. Canavalia maritima) (no reconstruction) and Wedelia biflora (§3.2), as well as grasses and sedges which include Thuarea involuta (ch.8, §3).

On their landward side the beach ridges merge into gently undulating flats which provide the environment for beach scrub. The border between the herbaceous zone and beach scrub is often vague and the two zones overlap. Beach scrub consists of shrubs like Pemphis acidula (§4.1.4) and Scaevola taccada (§4.1.5) and low-growing bushy-crowned trees like Cordia subcordata (§4.1.1), Hernandia nymphaeifolia (§4.1.2), Hibiscus tiliaceus (§4.1.3), Thespesia populnea (§4.1.6), Tournefortia argentea (§4.1.7) and Vitex trifolia (§4.1.8), often densely tangled with climbers like Flagellaria indica (§4.2.1). Beneath the shrubs is a ground layer of ferns, grasses, gingers and herbs which includes Crinum asiaticum (ch. 13, §6.6) (Mueller-Dombois & Fosberg 1998: 50).

Landwards, there is a transition, abrupt or gradual, from beach scrub to littoral forest (although it is common in NW Island Melanesia for littoral forest to have been displaced by coconut groves). This forest is often dominated by evergreen broadleaf trees like Barringtonia asiatica (§5.2), Calophyllum inophyllum (§5.3), Heritiera littoralis (ch.6, §4.4) and Terminalia catappa (ch.11, §2.4) (and in the Solomons Cerbera manghas, ch.6, §4.1) or the screwpine Pandanus tectorius (or on coral soil Pandanus dubius) (ch.11, §2.5) or sometimes Casuarina equisetifolia (§5.4). Where beach ridges have been eroded, littoral forest borders immediately on the beach, and Barringtonia asiatica (§5.2) predominates. Trees of lesser stature reported by Peekel (1984) in the littoral forest in New Ireland include Adenanthera pavonina (§5.1), Guettarda speciosa (§5.8) and Pongamia pinnata (§5.12). In the Solomons the lower storey includes Hibiscus tiliaceus (§4.1.3), Diospyros species (ch.7, §5.5), Kleinhovia hospita (ch. 7, §5. 7), Ficus austrina (no reconstruction), Premna corymbosa §5.13) and Morinda citrifolia (ch.13, §3.4) (Paijmans 1976:29-20, Henderson & Hancock 1988:321, Mueller-Dombois & Fosberg 1998: 50, 59, 70).

As the chapter numbers in the crossreferences above indicate, it is difficult to draw a line between littoral forest and lowland rain forest, as the two shade into each other. Trees which grow in lowland rain forest generally are mostly assigned to chapter 7. Certain trees of damper littoral forest also thrive on the landward margins of mangrove forests (Heritiera littoralis, Cerbera manghas) and are treated in chapter 6. Terminalia catappa, Pandanus tectorius and Morinda citrifolia fall under the rubric of tended or cultivated plants and are discussed in chapter 11.

From the perspective of linguistic reconstruction the shrubs and trees of the beach scrub zone and the littoral forest stand out because their names are quite easy to reconstruct, their Proto Oceanic (POc) names are often continuations of earlier forms, and they display continuity within Oceania. There are probably three main reasons for this. The first is simply that these plants have a very wide Pacific distrilbution, an obvious condition of continuity in naming. The second is probably that, being just behind the beach, they were easily accessible from people’s homes in beachside villages, and, thirdly, they also happen to be useful plants.

2. Coastal shallows⇫

The coastal shallows are home to seagrasses and seaweeds and, if there is a reef, to any number of marine plants. Seagrasses are those families of Angiosperms (flowering plants) that spend their entire life cycle under water. Seaweeds, on the other hand, are algae.

POc had a generic term for mosses, algaes and seaweeds, namely *lumut or *limut (§4.6). Beyond this, comparative lexical material on these plants is thin, and only two further reconstructions are offered here. Glosses in the sources are vague, often not distinguishing between seagrass and seaweed. There are no species identifications.

The Tawala description below, ‘seaweed like kunai grass in appearance’, is a reasonable characterisation of seagrasses of the genus Enhalus, which is characterised by long narrow leaves (Peekel 1984: 42-44, Hviding 2005: 13) and this is the (weak) basis for the gloss of PNGOc *domu.

PNGOc		*domu	‘seagrass sp., perhaps Enhalus’
NNG	Numbami	do-domu	‘seaweed, sea grass’
PT	Ubir	dom	‘seaweed long species’
PT	Gapapaiwa	tom-tom	‘seaweed type’
PT	Tawala	tom-tom	‘seaweed like kunai grass in appearance’
PT	Kilivila	do-dom	‘seaweed’

The glosses of the items supporting the reconstruction of POc *karagʷam are both too vague and too varied to allow the denotation to be further pinned down. The Drehet gloss suggests a seaweed, Andra a seagrass. The Motu gloss is somewhat confusing, as Fucus is a genus of algae, not seagrass.

POc		*karagʷam	‘seaweed, seagrass’3
Adm	Drehet	kurak	‘seaweed’
Adm	Andra	korek	‘seagrass sp. growing on reef flat’ (unexpected vowels)
PT	Molima	kalagoma	‘a seaweed’
PT	Tawala	yalegʷama	‘seaweed type, brown’
PT	Muyuw	yalig	‘seaweed used to paint canoes’
PT	Motu	alaga	‘seaweed like grass, Fucus sp.’
MM	Nakanai	lega	‘seaweed sp.’
MM	Patpatar	karaguo	‘seaweed’
MM	Tolai	kala-kalag	‘seaweed sp.’
SES	Lau	ʔalaga	‘seaweed’
SES	Arosi	ʔaraga	‘seaweed’
Mic	Kiribati	keaŋ	‘seagrass’

3. The herbaceous zone⇫

3.1. Ipomoea spp., morning glory (Convolvulaceae)⇫

Within the Evans’ *waRoc ‘vines and creepers’ taxon (ch.3, §4.4) there was apparently a subtaxon *puRe, which consisted of beach creepers. Clark (1996) takes the PEOc reflex to have denoted shore creepers of the genus Convolvulus. The evidence for this in the cognate set below is at first sight thin. However, there is a strong tendency in the botanical literature for Ipomoea species (‘morning glory’) to have synonyms in the genus Convolvulus, and it is likely that some, if not all, of the Convolvulus glosses below denote Ipomoea species. It is thus possible that POc *puRe prototypically denoted Ipomoea grandiflora (syn. Ipomoea tuba, Convolvulus tuba, Calonyction grandiflorum) and Ipomoea pes-caprae (Figure 5.1, left), beach creepers with trumpet-like flowers, white and purple respectively, commonly found on beaches in the Bismarck Archipelago (Peekel 1984: 461). Eastern Polynesian reflexes reflect a shift in denotatum to the gourd Lagenaria siceraria (ch.13, §7.1).

No reconstruction can be made for another beach creeper, Canavalia rosea (syn. Canavalia maritima), which typically co-occurs with Ipomoea pes-caprae. It is possible that it was included, at least at some locations, in the *puRe subtaxon.

POc		*puRe	‘taxon of beach creepers; perhaps prototypically Ipomoea grandiflora and Ipomoea pes-caprae’
Adm	Lou	pʷi-pʷi	‘vine which grows on the sand’
NNG	Kairiru	wul (kabuk)	‘wax gourd, Benincasa hispida’
PT	Muyuw	(igina)pʷey	‘Ipomoea pes-caprae’
MM	Nakanai	vule	‘Crinum sp.’
MM	Kia	fu-fure	‘Ipomoea pes-caprae’ (W. McClatchey, pers. comm.)
MM	Kokota	fu-fure	‘a flowering plant, grows as a littoral creeper’
MM	Gao	fu-fure	‘Ipomoea pes-caprae’ (W. McClatchey, pers. comm.)
SES	Lau	fule-fule	‘sp. creeper on the shore’
SES	Arosi	hure	‘beach creeper, Convolvulus sp.’
SES	Sa’a	hule	‘Convolvulus sp. growing on beach.’
NCV	Uripiv	na-wu-wu (ne dis)	‘creeper growing at seashore’ (dis ‘sea’)
NCV	Paamese	hua-hue	‘beach morning glory’4
NCV	Lewo	(ma)wo-we	‘Ipomoea sp.’
SV	Kwamera	nə-fua	‘beach vine sp. with yellow trumpet-shaped flowers’5
SV	Anejom̃	no-hou	‘vine sp. on beach with purple flower’6
NCal	Xârâcùù	kʷe	‘gourd’
Pn	Tongan	fue	‘generic term for vines’ (Whistler 1991b: 35)
Pn	Niuean	fue	‘creeping vine, Merremia peltata’
Pn	East Futunan	fue	‘Canavalia maritima’
Pn	Rennellese	hue	‘Ipomoea pes-caprae’
Pn	Tikopia	fue	‘a beach vine’
Pn	West Futunan	fue	‘sweet potato sp.’
Pn	Samoan	fue	‘generic for vines and creepers’ (Whistler 2000: 166)
Pn	Tuvalu	fue	‘Canavalia maritima’
Pn	Kapingamarangi	hue	‘Ipomoea alba’
Pn	Tokelauan	fue	‘a vine, Ipomoea macrantha’
Pn	Tuamotuan	hue	‘gourd’
Pn	Tuamotuan	(poo)hue	‘Convolvulus sp.’
PEPn		*fue	‘gourd, Lagenaria siceraria’
Pn	Tahitian	hue	‘gourd, calabash’
Pn	Rapanui	hue	‘gourd, Lagenaria siceraria’
Pn	Rarotongan	ʔue	‘gourd, Lagenaria siceraria’
Pn	Māori	hue	‘gourd, Lagenaria siceraria’

3.2. Wedelia biflora (syn. Wollastonia biflora) (Asteraceae)⇫

Wedelia biflora (Figure 5.1, right) is a herbaceous or half-shrubby coastal plant, usually 1.5-2.5 m tall, with yellow flowers. On the beach it sometimes forms impenetrable thickets, but it also occurs in the littoral forest, where it climbs as high as 6m (Peekel 1984: 561).

The leaves are filled with a tasty milk-like sap, and Tangga speakers (offshore east of southern New Ireland) boil and eat them (Bell 1947: 244)). At Marovo the leaves are an ingredient in cures for stomach ache (Hviding 2005: 108).

The following comparison is due to Blust (ACD), who associates it with PMP *qatay ‘liver’, since sources from the Philippines and northern Sulawesi suggest that the plant owes its name to the fact that its leaves are shaped like a pig’s liver.

Bender et al. (2003) reconstruct PChk *adɨ-adɨ ‘Wedelia biflora’. It is hard to believe that this is not associated with the reconstruction above, but this association must be by borrowing (perhaps from Yapese), as the PChk form would reflect POc †*(q)a(s,j)u-(q)a(s,j)u, not *qate-qate.

PMP		*qatay-qatay	‘a climbing plant, Wedelia biflora’ (ACD)
POc		*(qate-)qate	‘Wedelia biflora’
Yap	Yapese	ʔæaθ	‘flower of a type of plant’
Pn	Tongan	ate	‘shrub, Wedelia biflora’ (for expected †ʔate)
Pn	West Uvea	ate	‘shrub, Wedelia sp.’
Pn	Anutan	ate	‘plant spp., Wedelia biflora, Adenostemma lavenia’
Pn	Samoan	ate-ate	‘shrub, Wedelia biflora’

cf. also:

	PChk	*adɨ-adɨ	‘Wedelia biflora’(Bender et al. 2003)
Mic	Mortlockese	ɛtiyet	‘Wedelia biflora’
Mic	Chuukese	ətɨwət	‘Wedelia biflora’
Mic	Puluwatese	yætiyæt	‘Wedelia biflora’
Mic	Satawalese	yatiyat	‘Wedelia biflora’
Mic	Ulithian	yaθyəθ	‘Wedelia biflora’

4. Beach scrub⇫

4.1. Woody shrubs and small trees⇫

4.1.1. Cordia subcordata, kerosene wood, island walnut, sea trumpet, Pacific rosewood, P kerasin wud, B burao blong solwata (Boraginaceae)⇫

A twisted shore tree 8-15 m tall, Cordia subcordata (Figure 5.2, left) is well known for its very strong black-veined heartwood, which may remain as a skeleton after the rest of a dead tree has rotted away (W. McClatchey, pers. comm.). It occurs in varieties with orange and yellow flowers (Peekel 1984: 471, Hviding 2005: 131).

Its wood is lightweight but durable. In the western Solomons, in Vanuatu and on Waya Island it is used for carving (Gowers 1976: 56, Hviding 2005: 131, Gardner & Pawley 2006, Friday & Okano 2006). In earlier times the Marovo also used it for house posts, but its use in construction seems never to have been widespread. On New Ireland, however, the ceremonial V-shaped entrance to a men’s house was always made of Cordia subcordata (Record 1945). In Tonga it was used for carving and for construction (Whistler 1991b: 108). Gowers (1976: 56) and Capell (1941) report that its sap served as an adhesive in Vanuatu and Fiji.

POc *kanawa(n), *toRu and *jasi and PWOc *nagi are all reconstructable, but contrasts in meaning are unclear.

PMP		*kanawa	‘Cordia spp.’ (ACD) 7
POc		*kanawa(n)	‘Cordia subcordata’
NNG	Kove	kanau	‘Cordia subcordata’ (Chowning 2001: 83)
PT	Misima	ganawan	‘Cordia subcordata’
MM	East Kara	keno	‘Cordia subcordata’
MM	Patpatar	kanawa	‘Cordia subcordata’
MM	Tolai	kanao	‘Cordia subcordata’
Mic	Kiribati	kanawa	‘Cordia subcordata’
Mic	Mokilese	kanaw	‘tree sp.’
Mic	Woleaian	xarüw	‘Cordia subcordata’
Mic	Chuukese	anaw	‘Cordia subcordata’
Mic	Puluwatese	yānaw	‘Cordia subcordata’
Fij	Wayan	nawa-nawa	‘Cordia subcordata’
Fij	Bauan	nawa-nawa	‘Cordia subcordata’
Pn	Tongan	(pua tau)kanave	‘Cordia subcordata’
Pn	East Uvean	kanava	‘Cordia subcordata’
Pn	East Futunan	kānava	‘tree sp. with black wood and small red flower, found at Alofi’
Pn	Samoan	(tau)anave	‘Cordia subcordata’
Pn	Tokelauan	tānava	‘Cordia subcordata’
Pn	Nukuoro	ganava	‘Cordia subcordata’
Pn	Nukuria	ganava	‘Cordia subcordata’

POc		*toRu	‘Cordia subcordata’
MM	Nehan	to-tor	‘Cordia subcordata’
MM	Petats	to-tol	‘Cordia subcordata’
Fij	Wayan	tou-tou	‘tree of coastal slopes and rocky places inland: Gyrocarpus americanus’
Fij	Bauan	tou	‘Cordia aspera, sap used as a paste’
Pn	Tongan	tou	‘Cordia aspera’
Pn	East Uvean	tou	‘Cordia aspera’
Pn	Tikopia	tou	‘unidentified tree with soft light timber, no economic use’
Pn	Samoan	tou	‘Cordia aspera’
Pn	Tongarevan	tou	‘Cordia subcordata’
Pn	Rarotongan	tou	‘Cordia subcordata’
Pn	Tahitian	tou	‘Cordia subcordata’
Pn	Tuamotuan	tou	‘Cordia subcordata’
Pn	Hawaiian	kou	‘Cordia subcordata’
Pn	Marquesan	tou	‘Cordia subcordata’

The term *jasi is reconstructed for PCEMP and POc (rather than PEOc, as the data here imply) because there appears to be an external cognate in Timorese (nonwai) tasi ’_Cordia_s ubcordata’ (Heyne 1950: 1306).

PCEMP		*jasi	‘Cordia subcordata’
POc		*jasi	‘Cordia subcordata’
SES	Kwara’ae	(fofo)tasi	‘Cordia subcordata’
NCV	Nduindui	(fifai) na-tahi	‘Cordia subcordata’
PPn		*tahi	‘heartwood, including that of Cordia subcordata’
Pn	Tongan	tahi	‘hard heart or solid centre of certain kinds of tree’
Pn	East Uvean	tahi	‘old (of wood)’
Pn	Samoan	tai	‘heart of a tree’
Pn	Tuvalu	tai(ki)	‘heartwood’
Pn	Tokelauan	tai(tea)	‘white wood of Cordia subcordata’
Pn	Tokelauan	tai(uli)	‘dark wood of Cordia subcordata’
Pn	Rarotongan	tai(ki)	‘heartwood’
Pn	Māori	tai(ki)	‘heartwood’

PWOc		*nagi	‘Cordia sp.’
PT	Muyuw	(a)nag	‘Cordia sp.’
MM	Nduke	na-nagi	‘Cordia sp.’
MM	Marovo	nagi-nagi	‘Cordia subcordata’

4.1.2. Hernandia nymphaeifolia (syn. Hernandia peltata), sea hearse tree, lantern tree, B nambirimbiri, napiripiri, bluwud (Hernandiaceae)⇫

Peekel (1984: 192) describes Hernandia nymphaeifolia as ‘one of the most frequent beach trees’ in New Ireland. It is a small tree with hard white wood, white flowers and spherical white fruit about 3cm in diameter which ripen to pink (Gowers 1976: 85).

The Nakanai of New Britain and people in parts of Vanuatu use the trunk for making canoe hulls. The Nakanai also use the wood for hourglass drums (Floyd 1954, Gowers 1976: 85).

Bennett (n.d.) comments that at Biliau (north coast of New Guinea) the flowers are used on a hook to attract fish when one is fishing from a moving boat.

On Waya Island (Fiji) the flowers are said to have provided medicine for asthma (Gardner & Pawley 2006), and Gowers also reports that it was held to have medicinal properties in Vanuatu.

There is some evidence that for early Oceanic speakers Hernandia nymphaeifolia and Thespesia populnea (§4.1.6) formed a taxon.⁸ Both are small shore trees and both have hard wood that is used for hourglass drums. In Lau the regular reflex of POc *biRi-biRi ‘Hernandia nymphaeifolia’ denotes ‘Thespesia populnea’. In Wayan Fijian the same is true of a borrowed reflex of *biRi-biRi. The Kiribati reflex of *biRi-biRi appears to denote both tree species.

The Nduke and Roviana reflexes appear to denote Excoecaria agallocha (ch.6, §4.3), the leaves of which resemble those of Hernandia nymphaeifolia (W. McClatchey, pers. comm.).

Clark (1996) takes the *-r- of PNCV *biri-biri below to reflect POc *-r-, but loss of the rhotic in PPn *pipi points to POc *-R-. Recent work by Lynch (2007) shows that PNCV *-r- may reflect either POc *-r- or POc *-R-, confirming that the POc form was almost certainly *biRi-biRi. There is a margin of uncertainty because the Polynesian forms have short i where long vowels are expected, and the authors of POLLEX suggest that this may reflect borrowing.

The Seimat and Micronesian forms reflect POc †*biŋi-biŋi rather than *biRi-biRi. It is possible that the Seimat form represents a borrowing from a Micronesian language, but PMic *-ŋ- remains unexplained.

POc		*biRi-biRi	‘Hernandia nymphaeifolia’ (PNCV Clark 1996; PEOc Geraghty 1990)
Adm	Seimat	biŋi-biŋi	‘Hernandia ovigera’ (Sorensen 1950)
NNG	Bing	pir-pir	‘tree sp. (with white flowers; grows beside the sea)’
MM	East Kara	vi-vi	‘Hernandia nymphaeifolia’
MM	Patpatar	bir-bir	‘Hernandia nymphaeifolia’
MM	Tolai	(palu)bir	‘Hernandia nymphaeifolia’
MM	Sursurunga	bir-bir	‘large tree that grows on sand’
MM	Nehan	bir-bir	‘Hernandia nymphaeifolia’
MM	Kubokota	biri-biri	‘a tree that grows on the shore, whose leaves are used as medicine for stings from certain fish’
MM	Nduke	bi-biri	‘tree of mangrove areas, sap injures the eyes’ (perhaps Excoecaria agallocha)
MM	Roviana	biri-biri	‘beach tree, sap injures the eyes’ (perhaps Excoecaria agallocha)
PEOc		*biRi-biRi	‘k.o. shore tree, Hernandia nymphaeifolia’
SES	Gela	bi-bili	‘k.o. tree’
SES	Lau	bili-bili	‘tree sp., Thespesia populnea’
SES	Arosi	biri-biri	‘tree sp.’
PNCV		*biri-biri	‘k.o. shore tree, Hernandia nymphaeifolia’
NCV	Mwotlap	biy-biy	‘Hernandia nymphaeifolia’
NCV	Mota	pir-pir	‘tree sp.’
NCV	Ambae	biri-biri	‘Hernandia nymphaeifolia’
NCV	Raga	biri-biri	‘Hernandia nymphaeifolia’
NCV	Paamese	viri-viri	‘Hernandia nymphaeifolia’
NCV	Lewo	(pur)pel-pele	‘Hernandia nymphaeifolia’
NCV	Namakir	bi-bir	‘Hernandia nymphaeifolia’
NCV	Nguna	na-peperi	‘Hernandia nymphaeifolia’
NCV	South Efate	na-ipir	‘Hernandia nymphaeifolia’
PMic		*piŋi-piŋi	‘Hernandia nymphaeifolia’
Mic	Kiribati	piŋi-piŋ	‘Thespesia populnea and probably Hernandia nymphaeifolia’
Mic	Marshallese	piŋ-piŋ	‘Hernandia nymphaeifolia’
PCP		*bībī	‘Hernandia spp.’
Fij	Wayan	wiri-wiri	‘Thespesia populnea’ (borrowing: exp form is †bībī)
PPn		*pi-pi	‘k.o. shore tree, Hernandia nymphaeifolia’ (exp form is †*pīpī)
Pn	Niuean	pi-pi	‘a large tree, Hernandia moerenhoutiana’
Pn	Tongan	pi-pi (failolo)	‘Atuna racemosa’
Pn	East Futunan	pi-pi	‘tree with a soft black interior like a fir’
Pn	Samoan	pi-pi	‘tree, Hernandia moerenhoutiana’

cf. also:

PT	Misima	bi-biu	‘Hernandia nymphaeifolia’
Fij	Rotuman	pi-pi	‘Atuna racemosa’ (W. McClatchey, pers. comm.)

PROc		*buavu	‘Hernandia sp.’
NCal	Nyelâyu	pʰoap	‘Hernandia ovigera’
Fij	Wayan	buevu	‘Hernandia nymphaeifolia’

4.1.3. Hibiscus tiliaceus, beach hibiscus, TP mangas, P, B burao (Malvaceae)⇫

Hibiscus tiliaceus is a small sprawling, tangled shore tree with small girth, a branching trunk and pale yellow flowers (Figure 5.2, right). It grows 5-15 m tall (Peekel 1984: 364, Henderson & Hancock 1988: 161). Barrau (1965) reports that the bark was eaten in New Caledonia, and almost every source agrees that it provides fibre to make cordage, mats and nets (e.g. Floyd 1954, O’Collins & Lamothe 1989, Whistler 1991b: 29).

The POc term for Hibiscus tiliaceus was *paRu. Blust (ACD) suggests that it is reflected in terms for ‘tie’ like Bauan vau ‘tie, bind’ and Samoan fau ‘bind, lash together’, but it is now clear that these terms reflect POc *paqu(s), *paqus-i- ‘bind, lash; construct canoe by tying together’ (vol.1, ch.9, §10).

PMP		*baRu	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’ (ACD)
POc		*paRu	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
Adm	Lou	po	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
NNG	Kove	vahu	‘Cordia subcordata’
NNG	Gitua	paru	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
NNG	Tami	pa-palau	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
NNG	Kairiru	fyar	‘Hibiscus’
PT	Muyuw	(ayo)vay	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’ (F. Damon, pers. comm.)
PT	Hula	vatu	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
MM	Bola	varu	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
MM	East Kara	fai	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
MM	Tolai	va[r]-var	‘k.o. tree, the bark of which is used as string’
MM	Varisi	varu	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’ (W. McClatchey, pers. comm.)
MM	Babatana	varu	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
MM	Nduke	varu	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
MM	Roviana	varu	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
MM	Marovo	(leru) varu	‘a forest tree growing near rivers, Agathis macrophylla’ (leru ‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’)
TM	Äiwoo	(nuo)po	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
PEOc		*paRu	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
SES	Gela	valu	‘tree sp.’
SES	Lengo	valu	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
SES	Longgu	valu	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
SES	’Are’are	haru	‘shrub sp.’
SES	Arosi	haru	‘tree sp.’
NCV	Ambae	vae	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
NCV	Mota	varu	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
NCV	Araki	(vi)ða	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
NCV	Naman	nə-veve	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
NCV	Tape	vive	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
NCV	Uripiv	vava	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
NCV	Paamese	vea-vee	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
PSV		*nə-vau	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’ (Lynch 2001c)
SV	Sye	n-vau	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
SV	Kwamera	ne-vo	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
SV	Anejom̃	n-hau	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
NCal	Iaai	vɨɨu	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
NCal	Xârâcùù	pe	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
NCal	Nyelâyu	paɣi	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
PCP		*vau	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
Fij	Rotuman	hau	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
Fij	Wayan	vau	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus, Kleinhovia hospita’9
Fij	Bauan	vau	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
Pn	Niuean	fou	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
Pn	Tongan	fau	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
Pn	Pukapukan	wau	‘tree sp. whose bark is used for cordage’
Pn	Rennellese	hau	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
Pn	Tikopia	fau	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
Pn	Emae	fau	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
Pn	Samoan	fau	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
Pn	Rarotongan	ʔau	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
Pn	Hawaiian	hau	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’

The cognate set below contains a number of puzzles. It has just one Western Oceanic member, Kokota faɣalo, but this is likely to be a borrowing from a SE Solomonic language, and so the protoform is reconstructed for PEOc, not for POc. As Lynch (2004a) points out, a number of the forms from Malakula display metathesis, reflecting *bʷalaka rather than *bʷakala, whilst Anejom displays loss of medial *-k-. These appear to be local innovations. More problematic are the discrepancies between the SE Solomonic forms and all other reflexes, as they make a reliable PEOc reconstruction impossible. PSES *vaɣalo ‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’ looks very like an irregular (borrowed?) reflex of POc *paRu above, which was also regularly reflected as PSES *vatu, as the SES forms above show. The PNCV form *bʷakala displays the rounding feature not on its final syllable (cf PSES *-o) but on its first syllable. This is decidedly unusual, but, as the alternative Kwara’ae dialectal form faʔola shows, rounding shift does occur.

PEOc		*pakalo, *pʷakala	‘Hibiscus sp.’
MM	Kokota	fayalo	‘Hibiscus sp.’
PSES		*vaɣalo	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
SES	Bugotu	vaɣaðo	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’ (Henderson and Hancock 1988)
SES	Gela	vaɣalo	‘tree sp.’
SES	Birao	vahalo	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
SES	Kwara’ae	faʔalo,faʔola	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’ (Henderson and Hancock 1988)
SES	Dori’o	faʔalo	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
SES	Arosi	haʔaro	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
SES	Kahua	haʔaro	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
PNCV		*bʷakala	‘Hibiscus sp.’ (Clark 1996)
NCV	Mwotlap	na-bʷɣal	‘Hibiscus rosa-sinensis’
NCV	Mota	bʷaɣala	‘flowering hibiscus of many varieties’
NCV	Naman	belag	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’ (metathesis)
NCV	Neve’ei	ne-bʷelagu	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’ (metathesis)
NCV	Avava	balaɣa	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’ (metathesis)
NCV	Larëvat	balgo	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’ (metathesis)
NCV	South Efate	na-pʷkal	‘Hibiscus rosa-sinensis’
PSV		*na-bʷaz	‘Hibiscus sp.’ (Lynch 2001c)
SV	Anejom̃	n-pʷaz	‘Hibiscus sp.’
NCal	Pije	pakēla	‘Hibiscus abelmoschus’
NCal	Nêlêmwa	paxēla	‘Hibiscus abelmoschus’

cf. also:

SES	Lau	fakaso	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’
SES	Kwara’ae	fakusu	‘Hibiscus tiliaceus’

4.1.4. Pemphis acidula (Lythraceae)⇫

Pemphis acidula is a small twisted beach tree (Figure 5.4, left) with very hard, tough wood used at Marovo to make tools such as pestles, husking sticks and weapons (Hviding 2005: 131), in Tonga for tool handles and house parts (Whistler 1991b: 39) and in Tahiti to make combs (POLLEX). Its distribution seems to be patchy: it is not mentioned by Peekel (1984) for the Bismarcks nor by Borrell (1989) for Kairim (Schoutens). Will McClatchey (pers. comm.) suggests that its distribution across Oceania was once quite uniform but that it was so useful that it was pushed to extinction in some places. The reconstruction of POc *ŋiRac is unproblematic as its reflexes are regular.

PMP		*ŋiRaj	‘Pemphis acidula’10
POc		*ŋiRac	‘Pemphis acidula’ (Geraghty 1990: PEOc *ŋiRa)
PT	Misima	nila-nila	‘Pemphis acidula’
MM	Nehan	gihes	‘Pemphis acidula’
MM	Nduke	ŋirasa	‘Pemphis acidula’
MM	Marovo	ŋirasa	‘Pemphis acidula’
MM	Kia	ŋi-ŋirasa	‘Pemphis acidula’ (W. McClatchey, pers. comm.)
NCV	Uripiv	ne-ŋir	‘Pemphis acidula’
SV	Anejom̃	ne-ŋiye	‘Pemphis acidula’
Mic	Kiribati	ŋea	‘Pemphis acidula’
Mic	Marshallese	(kə)ŋe	‘Pemphis acidula’
Mic	Chuukese	(ē)ŋi	‘Pemphis acidula’
Mic	Woleaian	(xai)ŋiy	‘Pemphis acidula’
PCP		*ŋi(a)-ŋia	‘Pemphis acidula’
Fij	Bauan	ŋi-ŋia	‘Pemphis acidula’
Fij	Wayan	ŋia-ŋia	‘Pemphis acidula’
Pn	Tongan	ŋi-ŋie	‘shore shrubs or small trees Pemphis acidula and Suriana maritima’
Pn	Niuean	ŋi-ŋie	‘Pemphis acidula’
Pn	Rennellese	ŋi-ŋie	‘shrub sp. growing on coastal ledges.’
Pn	Pukapukan	ŋi-ŋie	‘tree sp.’
Pn	Sikaiana	n-nie	‘a plant with strong wood’
Pn	Takuu	n-nie	‘Pemphis acidula’
Pn	Tokelauan	ŋa-ŋie	‘Pemphis acidula’
Pn	Mangaia	ŋa-ŋie	‘a littoral shrub’
Pn	Tahitian	(ā)ʔie	‘Pemphis acidula’
Pn	Tuamotuan	ŋie-ŋie	‘Pemphis acidula’

4.1.5. Scaevola taccada (syn. Scaevola koenigii, Scaevola sericea, Scaevola frutescens), B haf flaoa (Goodeniaceae)⇫

Peekel (1984: 553) describes Scaevola taccada as a ‘stiffly erect shrub with finger-thick fleshy green twigs, 2-4m tall’ and ‘common, on sandy beaches’ (Figure 5.4, middle). The shrubs grow in dense clusters near the beach (Hviding 2005: 122). It is probably the best distributed plant on the Pacific islands, found on the smallest islets and the largest islands (W. Mc-Clatchey, pers. comm.). The light green leaves are somewhat succulent with a waxy covering and are alternately arranged along the stem. The white or cream flowers, often with purple streaks, are 8-12 mm long and have a pleasant smell. All five petals are on one side of the flower, so that they look as if they have been torn in half (hence the Bislama term haf flaoa). The fruit of Scaevola taccada are fleshy white oblong berries of varying size, the smallest about 1 cm long.

On Lihir the leaves are squeezed in salt water and the resultant sap is used for various medicinal purposes. The leaves are heated over the fire and rubbed on the skin to relieve pain in joints, bones, and muscles (S. Foale 2001). The stem bark was used for medicinal purposes in Tonga (Whistler 1991b: 38). At Marovo the leaves are used during fishing trips to shield the catch from the sun and to parcel up food. Newly broken leaves and branches provide evidence that a turtle has made a nest nearby (Hviding 2005: 122).

PEMP *nasu-nasu is reconstructed on the basis of the Oceanic data here, plus Weda (S Halmahera) nesnas and Biak anas, both ‘Scaevola taccada’ (Heyne 1950: 1428). It happens that *-u is lost from POc *CVC_u_ forms in Pak and in the Western Oceanic and Southern Vanuatu languages in which reflexes occur. Thus although only reflected in Micronesian and Polynesian languages, medial and final *u are reconstructed both for PEMP and POc because the canonic form (CVCV[C]) of morphemes in these protolanguages requires the reconstruction of a final vowel in the morpheme that then undergoes reduplication.

PEMP		*nasu-nasu	‘Scaevola taccada’
POc		*na[su]-nasu	‘Scaevola taccada’
Adm	Pak	na-nas	‘Scaevola sp. (Nevermann 1934)’
NNG	Kairiru	na-nas	‘Scaevola sericea’
MM	Lavongai	(ni)ŋas	‘Scaevola taccada’
MM	Sursurunga	nas-nas	‘tree sp. that grows on the beach’
MM	Patpatar	(i)nas-nas	‘Tournefortia argentea’
MM	Patpatar	(i)nas-nas(madil-madil)	‘Scaevola taccada’
PSV		*na-nas	‘tree sp., Scaevola sp.’ (Lynch 2001c)
SV	Sye	na-ni-na-ni	‘Scaevola sp.’
SV	Kwamera	na-nes	‘tree sp.’
SV	Anejom̃	na-naθ	‘Scaevola cylindrica’
PMic		*na-nasu	‘Scaevola sp.’
Mic	Marshallese	(kə)n-nʷat	‘half-flower, Scaevola sp.’
Mic	Chuukese	n-nət	‘half-flower, Scaevola sp.’
Mic	Woleaian	n-natɨ	‘half-flower, Scaevola sp.’ (Bender et al. 2003)
PPn		*ŋasu	‘a seaside shrub, Scaevola sp.’
Pn	Tongan	ŋahu	‘Scaevola taccada’
Pn	Niuean	ŋahu	‘Cyrtandra samoensis’
Pn	Niuean	ŋahu-pā	‘Scaevola taccada’
Pn	East Uvean	ŋahu	‘Scaevola sp.’
Pn	East Futunan	ŋasu	‘a seaside plant’
Pn	Anutan	ŋau	‘Scaevola taccada’
Pn	Pukapukan	ŋayu	‘Scaevola taccada’
Pn	Samoan	ŋasu	‘Palaquium stehlinii’
Pn	Tuvalu	ŋahu	‘Scaevola taccada’
Pn	Tokelauan	ŋahu	‘Scaevola taccada’
Pn	Rarotongan	ŋa-ŋaʔu	‘a creeping littoral plant with small leaves’

4.1.6. Thespesia populnea (syn. Thespesia macrophylla), B burao blong solwota (Malvaceae)⇫

Thespesia populnea is a tree typically 5-10 m and sometimes as much as 15m in height with large yellow flowers which have a brown centre (Figure 5.4, right). Its strong dark-brown heartwood is used to make hourglass drums in New Ireland. The bark is used as binding material (Record 1945, Peekel 1984: 369). In Tonga it is used in handicrafts, house parts and canoes, and extract from the scraped bark is given to babies to treat mouth infections (Whistler 1991b: 86).

PMP		*banaRo	‘Thespesia populnea’11
POc		*(p,b)anaRo	‘Thespesia populnea’
MM	Sursurunga	banar	‘beach tree sp.,with inedible fruit’
MM	Patpatar	banaro	‘Thespesia populnea’
MM	Tolai	banar	‘Thespesia populnea’
NCV	Mwotlap	na-pne	‘Thespesia populnea’
NCV	Mota	vanau	‘Thespesia populnea’
NCV	Apma	vena	‘Thespesia populnea’
Mic	Ponapean	pana	‘Thespesia populnea’

PEOc		*milo	‘Thespesia populnea’
SES	Kwara’ae	milo	‘Thespesia populnea’12
NCV	Nguna	na-miro	‘Cordia subcordata’ (Gowers 1976: 57)
Pn	Tongan	milo	‘Thespesia populnea’
Pn	Niuean	milo	‘Thespesia populnea’
Pn	East Uvean	milo	‘Thespesia populnea’
Pn	East Futunan	milo	‘Thespesia populnea’
Pn	West Uvea	milo	‘Thespesia populnea’
Pn	Tikopia	miro	‘Thespesia populnea’
Pn	Samoan	milo	‘Thespesia populnea’
Pn	Tuvalu	milo	‘tree sp.’
Pn	Tokelauan	(tuu)milo	‘tree sp.’
Pn	Hawaiian	milo	‘Thespesia populnea’
Pn	Mangarevan	milo	‘Thespesia populnea’
Pn	Marquesan	miʔo	‘rosewood’
Pn	Tahitian	miro	‘Thespesia populnea’
Pn	Tuamotuan	miro	‘Thespesia populnea’
Pn	Rarotongan	miro	‘Thespesia populnea’
Pn	Māori	miro	‘tree sp., Podocarpus ferrugineus’

4.1.7. Tournifortia argentea (syn. Messerschmidia argentea), tree heliotrope, beach heliotrope (Boraginaceae)⇫

Tournefortia argentea is a small heliotropic beach tree 5-8 m tall with silvery hairy leaves and white flowers. It has a short bole covered in deeply corrugated bark. Limited to beachside environments, it is tolerant of salt water (Peekel 1984:471-472, Manner & Elevitch2006b). At Marovo, where it is reported often to grow in association with Cordia subcordata (§4.1.1 ), children use the sticky sap to catch butterflies (Hviding 2005: 111).

No term for ‘Tournefortia argentea’ is reconstructed at a higher-order level than PPn *tau-sinu or PMic *cen. There is no obvious reason for this, as it is a common tree in the Bismarcks. However, the data offer tiny hints that in POc Tournefortia argentea formed a taxon with Scaevola taccada (§4.1.5), i.e. POc *na[su]-nasu ‘Scaevola taccada’ also denoted Tournefortia argentea, perhaps with a modifier added to distinguish between the two species. Thus the Patpatar (New Ireland) term for Tournefortia argentea is i-nas-nas, reflecting POc *nasu-nasu, whilst the term for Scaevola taccada is i-nas-nas-madil-madil. Conversely E Uvean tauhunu ‘Scaevola taccada’ reflects PPn *tau-suni ‘Tournefortia argentea’. Will McClatchey (pers. comm.) tells me that a taxon consisting of Tournefortia argentea and Scaevola taccada makes sense for two reasons: ‘First, the plants live in the same environment and have the same suite of adaptations for survival. Second, in my experience working with healers and fisherpersons, they use the two for very similar purposes.’

Reconstructing the PPn form from the cognate set below is tricky. There are two competing PNPn reconstructions, *tausinu and *tausunu: the latter almost certainly reflects the former with vowel assimilation. The Tongan, Niuean and Samoan forms reflect *tausuni, but for two reasons I prefer to reconstruct PPn *tausinu. First, it is favoured by the distribution of the data, as it is reflected in Nuclear Polynesian Pukapukan and in several Eastern Polynesian languages, whereas *tausuni reflects metathesis, then probable diffusion in the Tonga-Samoa area (A. Pawley, pers. comm.). Second, it is likely that the term was originally bimorphemic, and the second morpheme perhaps reflects PCP *sinu ‘a shrub or tree, possibly Phaleria sp.’ (§6.1.5). Both Tournefortia argentea and Phaleria coccinea have white flowers.

PPn		*tausinu	‘Tournefortia argentea’ (POLLEX)
Pn	Tongan	touhuni	‘Tournefortia argentea’
Pn	Niuean	toihuni	‘Tournefortia argentea’
Pn	Niuean	taihuni	‘coastall growth, scrub’
Pn	Samoan	tausuni	‘Tournefortia argentea’
PNPn		*tausinu	‘Tournefortia argentea’
Pn	Pukapukan	taeyinu	‘Tournefortia argentea’
Pn	Rapanui	tainu	‘Tournefortia argentea’
Pn	Rarotongan	tauhinu	‘Tournefortia argentea’
Pn	Tahitian	tahinu	‘Tournefortia argentea’
Pn	Māori	tauhinu	‘shrub sp., Pomaderris phylicifolia’
PNPn		*tausunu	‘Tournefortia argentea’
Pn	Anutan	tauunu	‘Tournefortia argentea’
Pn	East Uvean	tauhunu	‘Scaevola taccada’
Pn	Rennellese	tausunu	‘Tournefortia argentea’
Pn	Samoan	tausunu	‘Tournefortia argentea’
Pn	Tuvalu	tauhunu	‘Tournefortia argentea’
Pn	Tokelauan	tauhunu	‘Tournefortia argentea’
Pn	Sikaiana	taunusu	‘tree sp.’
Pn	Luangiua	kausuŋu	‘a small tree’
Pn	Manihiki	tauhunu	‘a bush’
Pn	Tongarevan	tausunu	‘Tournefortia argentea’
Pn	Tuamotuan	toohonu	‘Tournefortia argentea’

The PMic form *cen ‘Tournefortia argentea’ looks at first sight as if it also reflects PROc *sinu. If it does, however, this is a result of borrowing, as PMic *c- reflects POc *d or *dr-, not POc *s-.

PMic		*cen	‘Tournefortia argentea’
Mic	Kiribati	ren	‘Tournefortia argentea’
Mic	Marshallese	(ki)ṛen	‘Tournefortia argentea’
Mic	Chuukese	c̣en	‘Tournefortia argentea’
Mic	Woleaian	c̣er	‘Tournefortia argentea’

4.1.8. Vitex trifolia (syn. Vitex negundo) (Verbenaceae)⇫

Vitex trifolia is an erect shrub or small tree: 1-5 m tall which grows on the beach and on muddy stream banks. In the older botanical literature it is sometimes confused with Vitex rotundifolia, a low-lying shrub less that a metre in height, growing inland on poor sandy soils (W. McClatchey, pers. comm.), and the two evidently form a taxon in Wayan Fijian: drala ni mataðawa ‘beach drala’ but drala kaka ‘wild drala’.

Vitex trifolia has sprays of blue-purple flowers and fruit. All parts of the plant are aromatic. On New Ireland the crushed leaves are used against headache. On Waya juice from the leaves is used as a healing agent for wounds (Peekel 1984:481, Gardner & Pawley 2006).

The POc term for Vitex trifolia was *drala. Both POc *drala ‘Vitex trifolia’ and POc *rarap ‘Indian coral tree, Erythrina variegata’ (§5.5) are regularly reflected as Bauan Fijian drala.¹³ The two terms are disambiguated by the addition of sala ‘path, road, track’ to form the binomial drala sala ‘Vitex trifolia’.

In PPn the two forms would similarly have fallen together as *lala, but here the form survived with the meaning ‘Vitex trifolia’, whilst PPn †*lala ‘Erythrina variegata’ was lost.¹⁴

POc		*drala	‘shrub sp., Vitex trifolia’
MM	Patpatar	dala	‘Vitex trifolia’
MM	Tolai	dala	‘Vitex trifolia’
NCal	Nyelâyu	dāde	‘Vitex trifolia’
Fij	Bauan	drala (sala)	‘Vitex trifolia’
Fij	Wayan	drala	‘Vitex trifolia’
PPn		*lala	‘shrub, probably Vitex sp.’
Pn	Tongan	lala	‘taxon of shrubs inc. Vitex trifolia, Dendrolobium umbellatum and Wikstroemia foetida’
Pn	Tongan	lala(tahi)	‘Vitex trifolia’ (Whistler 1991b: 63)
Pn	Niuean	lala	‘shrub sp., Grewia crenata’
Pn	Niuean	lala-tea	‘Vitex trifolia’
Pn	East Uvean	lala	‘shrub sp.’
Pn	East Futunan	lala(a-vao)	‘tree sp., Myristica inutilis’
Pn	Anutan	rara	‘Vitex trifolia’
Pn	Tikopia	rara	‘Vitex trifolia’
Pn	Samoan	lala	‘shrub, Dendrolobium umbellatum’
Pn	Luangiua	lala	‘shrub with fragrant flowers’
Pn	Rarotongan	rara	‘Vitex trifolia’

4.2. Climbers⇫

4.2.1. Flagellaria indica, supplejack, B navula (Flagellariaceae)⇫

Flagellaria indica is a climbing cane-like vine whose stem, 1-1.5cm thick, grows to a length of 3-6 m. The leaves are 20-40cm long and have a curling tendril at the apex with which the plant secures itself to its host.

The long strong woody stem remains pliable and serves the functions of a rope. The stems are prepared for use as cordage by splitting them and drying them in the sun. They serve as a binding and plaiting material, especially to sew sago matting (Sorensen 1950, Peekel 1984: 76). They are also used as anchor cables and as rope: for bindings in canoe- and house construction and in roofing (Floyd 1954, S. Foale 2001, Thieberger 2006b). In various parts of the Solomons lengths of whole Flagellaria indica complete with their long leaves are joined together to make scarelines (Marovo arara, a reduplicated form of ara ‘Flagellaria indica’ ). These are laid out to encircle fish on reef flats or in the lagoon and scare them into traps or into an area of shallow water with a limited exit (Henderson & Hancock 1988:216, Hviding 2005: 101). On Lihir a potion made from Flagellaria indica is said to impart the ability to fight well (S. Foale 2001).

POc *waR[e] ‘Flagellaria indica’ reflects PMP *huaR ‘Flagellaria indica’ (ACD). The expected POc descendant of this form is *waR, and this is reflected by Nduke [a]r-ara (reduplicated) and Kokota n-ara.¹⁵ POc was seemingly resistant to monosyllabic content words, and Mussau, Seimat and Kwara’ae reflect a form with a final vowel, which shows up as *-e in Mussau and Kwara’ae.

The Muyuw, Sursurunga, Tangga and Mwotlap forms all reflect POc *-l-. Muyuw weled also has a final -d, and may be a chance resemblance rather than a cognate. The other forms shown under ‘cf. also’, however, are either outcomes of borrowing or reflect a POc alternant *wale.

PMP		*huaR	‘Flagellaria indica’ (ACD)
POc		*waR[e]	‘Flagellaria indica’
Adm	Mussau	(ta)wale	‘liana sp.’ (Nevermann 1934)
Adm	Seimat	wah	‘Flagellaria indica’ (Sorensen 1950)
MM	Varisi	zara	‘Flagellaria indica’ (W. McClatchey, pers. comm.)
MM	Avasö	zara	‘Flagellaria indica’ (W. McClatchey, pers. comm.)
MM	Nduke	[a]r-ara	‘Flagellaria indica’
MM	Marovo	ara	‘Flagellaria indica’
MM	Marovo	ar-ara	‘long scare-lines of Flagellaria indica prepared for fishing’
MM	Kokota	n-ara	‘a tree creeper; rope made from the eponymous plant’
MM	Maringe	ñ-ara	‘Flagellaria indica’ (W. McClatchey, pers. comm.)
SES	Kwara’ae	kʷale-kʷale	‘Flagellaria indica’
SES	Kwara’ae	ware-ware	‘Flagellaria indica’ (Henderson and Hancock 1988)
SES	Ulawa	wale	‘Flagellaria gigantea’ (W. McClatchey, pers. comm.)
Fij	Wayan	wā-wā	‘vine sp., Ipomoea indica; a shrubby climbing plant, Ventilago vitiensis’

cf. also:

PT	Muyuw	weled	‘Flagellaria sp.’
MM	Lihir	yal-yal	‘Flagellaria indica’
MM	Sursurunga	wal-wal	‘tree or bush type; cane type’
MM	Tangga	wāl-wāl	‘vine used in catching fish’(Bell 1946: 317)
NCV	Mwotlap	(ɣa)wol	‘Flagellaria sp.’
NCV	South Efate	n-ala	‘Flagellaria sp.’

4.2.2. Hoya spp. (Asclepiadaceae)⇫

Leafy climbers of Hoya species are often found on the beach and around mangroves and beach trees (Peekel 1984: 455-457).

The reconstructions of PCEMP *(d,r)a(d,r)ap and POc *dradrap below are based on just two etyma, Muyuw dadav and Ngadha (CMP) rara ‘Hoya spp.’ (Verheijen 1990: 220).

PCEMP		*(d,r)a(d,r)ap	‘Hoya sp.’
POc		*dradrap	‘Hoya sp.’
PT	Muyuw	dadav	‘Hoya sp.’ (Damon 2004)

5. Littoral forest⇫

5.1. Adenanthera pavonina (syn. Adenanthera gersenii, Adenanthera polita, Corallaria parvifolia), bead tree, red sandalwood, B bisa, nabisa (Mimosaceae)⇫

A tree which grows to 8-15 m on sandy foreshores and coral soil, Adenanthera pavonina is well known for its shiny scarlet, disk-shaped seeds about 6 mm in diameter which serve widely as necklace beads. It has a small, yellowish flower which grows in dense drooping rat’s-tail flower heads resembling catkins. Its flowers are white to yellowish, and the seeds grow in curved hanging pods, with a bulge opposite each seed, which curl up and turn brown (Peekel 1984: 210).

The wood is medium hard and in Vanuatu is used for houseposts (Gowers 1976: 19). French (1986: 75) reports that the leaves are eaten in some Papua New Guinea locations, but Peekel makes no mention of this.

The distribution of Adenanthera pavonina is odd: it is reported from Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu, but not mentioned by Solomons sources. It is also missing from Borrell’s (1989) flora checklist for Kairiru. It is native to SE Asia, but Rhys Gardner and Will McClatchey (both pers. comm.) suggest that it is a (recently?) introduced plant, at least from Fiji eastwards and perhaps also in Vanuatu. If this is so, then the two data sets require an explanation other than cognacy. The first set appears to support PROc *(m,mʷ)ata, but the items glossed ‘Adenanthera pavonina’ are all from languages located in Vanuatu (Emae and Ifira-Mele are Polynesian outliers in Vanuatu) and probably reflect a series of borrowings. Items denoting other species are presumably chance resemblances.

NCV	Namakir	na-mara	‘Adenanthera pavonina’(Wheatley 1992: 133)
NCV	South Efate	na-mara	‘Adenanthera pavonina’(Wheatley 1992: 133)
Fij	Bauan	mala	‘Dysoxylum lenticillare, tree with large yellow-green flowers’
Fij	Bauan	mala-mala	‘Dysoxylum spp.’(Keppel et al. 2005)
Pn	Tongan	mala-mala(-ʔa-toa)	‘small tree sp., Memecylon harveyi’(Whistler 1991b: 81)
Pn	Niuean	ma-mala	‘k.o. tree’
Pn	Emae	mara-marā	‘Adenanthera pavonina’
Pn	Ifira-Mele	mʷara	‘Adenanthera pavonina’ (probably borrowed from a NCV language)
Pn	Tahitian	mara	‘k.o. tree, Nauclea forsteri’
Pn	Tuamotuan	mara	‘k.o. tree, Cordia subcordata’

The data below allow the reconstruction of PSOc *bisu ‘bead tree, Adenanthera pavonina’ but may actually reflect a Pacific Pidgin term based on English ‘peas’ or ‘beads’.¹⁶

NCV	Ambae	bise	‘Adenanthera pavonina’
NCV	Araki	(vi)pisu	‘bead tree’
NCV	Tangoa	(vi)pisu	‘Adenanthera pavonina’
NCV	Raga	bisa	‘Adenanthera pavonina’
NCV	Paamese	vise	‘Adenanthera pavonina’
NCV	Lewo	(puru)piu	‘Adenanthera pavonina’
SV	Sye	ne-mpes	‘bead’ (ecclesiastical use only)

5.2. Barringtonia asiatica (syn. Barringtonia speciosa, Barringtonia littorea), sea poison tree, fish poison tree, P poesentri, B fisposentri (Lecythidaceae)⇫

For naming purposes, Barringtonia species in NW Island Melanesia fall into two groups:

• those with edible nuts: Barringtonia novae-hiberniae, Barringtonia procera and Barringtonia edulis (ch.11, §2.3); and
• those with inedible nuts, of which just one species, Barringtonia asiatica, has a reconstructable name and is the subject of this section.

Two other species with inedible nuts, Barringtonia racemosa and Barringtonia niedenzuana, resemble Barringtonia edulis in appearance.¹⁷ The Patpatar and Tolai names for Barringtonia racemosa are respectively paua-paua and pao-pao, reduplicated forms of Patpatar paua and Tolai pao ‘Barringtonia edulis’ (Peekel 1984: 397-399), the reduplication expressing the inferiority of Barringtonia racemosa (ch.2, §7.2).

Barringtonia asiatica is a large beach tree, 10–20 m high, which is able to grow with its roots in salt water at times. It has large white and pink flowers which open at night and close in the morning, and ten-centimetre square fruits that float in the sea and sprout when they reach the shore. Fishermen use them as buoys or fishing floats. The seeds contain a poison. In New Ireland they are grated and thrown into the water to stun fish in pools on the reef. At Marovo they are sometimes used to kill dogs, but they also serve as medication for ringworm, scabies and other skin diseases (French-Wright 1983: 157, Peekel 1984: 397, Hviding 2005: 139)

Two terms are reconstructable, POc *putun, which is reflected all over Oceania except in parts of Vanuatu, where it is replaced by PNCV *vuabu,¹⁸ and in the Chuukic languages of Micronesia, where it is replaced by a reflex of POc *kuluR ‘breadfruit, Artocarpus altilis’ (Ch.9, §4).

PMP		*butun	‘a shore tree, Barringtonia’ (Dempwolff 1938)
POc		*putun	‘Barringtonia asiatica’ (Biggs 1965: *putu; French-Wright 1983)
Adm	Seimat	hut	‘Barringtonia asiatica’ (Sorensen 1950)
Adm	Drehet	puk	‘type of tree with poisonous seed used to kill fish’
Adm	Loniu	put	‘tree sp. and its fruit, used for stunning fish’
NNG	Malai	putin	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
NNG	Sio	puto	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
NNG	Malasanga	put-put	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
NNG	Bing	fut	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
NNG	Manam	utu	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
PT	Muyuw	uta-wut	‘Barringtonia asiatica’ (F. Damon, pers. comm.)
PT	Misima	uta-utan	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
MM	Vitu	putu	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
MM	Bola	putu	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
MM	Nakanai	putu	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
MM	Tigak	utun	‘small tree sp. that grows on the beach’
MM	East Kara	futun	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
MM	Lihir	hut	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
MM	Tangga	fut	‘fish poison from seed of Barringtonia asiatica’
MM	Patpatar	hutun	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
MM	Tolai	vutun	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
MM	Halia	(ha)putun	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
MM	Teop	posus	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
MM	Mono-Alu	puputu	‘Barringtonia asiatica’ (W. McClatchey, pers. comm.)
MM	Babatana	pututu	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
MM	Nduke	pututu	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
MM	Kokota	putu	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
PEOc		*putu(n)	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
SES	Gela	vutu	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
SES	Lau	fū	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
SES	Sa’a	hū	‘Barringtonia speciosa’
SES	Arosi	hū	‘Barringtonia speciosa’
NCV	Mota	vutu	‘Barringtonia speciosa’
NCV	Vera’a	vur	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
NCV	Ambae	(vele) vutu	‘Barringtonia asiatica’ (vele ‘Barringtonia edulis’)
NCV	Raga	vutu	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
NCV	Lewo	puru(wap)	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
NCV	Lewo	puru(kurki)	‘bush nut tree (its skin is used as fish poison): Barringtonia edulis’
SV	Sye	no-vont	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
SV	Kwamera	nə-kʷərəŋ	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
NCal	Pije	(ce)piuk	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
NCal	Nyelâyu	piyu	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
NCal	Nêlêmwa	(haele)wot	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
Mic	Ponapean	wī	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
Mic	Mokilese	wi	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
Fij	Bauan	vutu	‘Barringtonia sp.’
Fij	Wayan	vutu	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
Pn	Tongan	futu	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
Pn	East Futunan	futu	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
Pn	Tikopia	futu	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
Pn	Samoan	futu	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
Pn	Marquesan	hutu	‘Barringtonia asiatica’

PNCV		*vuabu	‘Barringtonia asiatica’ (Clark 1996)
NCV	Nokuku	a-up	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
NCV	Kiai	uapo	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
NCV	Araki	(vi)apu	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
NCV	Tamambo	(vu)abu	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
NCV	Sakao	n-uap	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
NCV	Uripiv	n-uwaʙ	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
NCV	Port Sandwich	n-iaᵐb	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
NCV	Paamese	hoavu	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
NCV	Lewo	(puru)wapu	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
NCV	Namakir	n-oamʷ	‘Barringtonia asiatica’
NCV	Nguna	n-oapu	‘Barringtonia asiatica’

5.3. Calophyllum inophyllum, portia, Indian laurel, Alexandrian laurel, beach mahogany, TP kalopilum, B tamanu, nabakura (Clusiaceae)⇫

Often with a short gnarled trunk or branches leaning out over the sea, Calophyllum inophyllum is a salient shore tree about 10–20 metres tall with fragrant flowers and small round fruit (Hviding 2005: 106).

Its red wood is very hard and difficult to work when it is seasoned. The grain is interlocked, and so the wood does not split easily (Margetts 2005b). Its straight smaller branches are used for pig spears, for outrigger booms and for building (Sorensen 1950, Floyd 1954, Peekel 1984: 377, Gardner & Pawley 2006). In Vanuatu the sap serves for patching holes in wood. In other parts of the Pacific the gum, bark, leaves, roots, flowers and oil from the seeds are used in traditional medicine (Gowers 1976:40, Gardner & Pawley 2006). Its macerated leaves are used to stupefy octopus in holes in the reef and its burnt fruit provide black hair dye. In the Ninigos, where Seimat is spoken, a brown dye is made from the yellowish milky sap (Record 1945, Sorensen 1950).

Other species of Calophyllum grow inland, hence straight, and provide even better timber than Calophyllum inophyllum, including canoe hulls. Calophyllum kajewskii (syn. Calophyllum peekelii) is a rain forest tree than grows up to 50 m.

There are a number of reconstructions with Calophyllum species as denotata. The most widely reflected is POc *pitaquR, inherited from PMP, and it is reasonably clear that it denoted ‘Calophyllum inophyllum’. The only evidence we have for the POc retention of PMP *-R is found in the reflexes in New Georgia languages: Nduke vizolo, Roviana vi-vizolo and Marovo vi-vijolo. However, the expected form in these languages is †vita(ɣ)uru, and the actual forms must be outcomes of borrowing. The languages of the western Solomons have complex and ill understood borrowing histories (Ross 2010b).

Other reconstructions glossed ‘Calophyllum inophyllum’ are PMM *bu(y)ap (possibly of POc antiquity) and POc *dalo (probably inherited from PCEMP). It seems unlikely that POc had more than one term for Calophyllum inophyllum and thus it is possible that *dalo denoted some other species. POc *tamanu and PNGOc *sabʷa(r,R)i denote unidentified Calophyllum species, whilst PEOc *bakuRa probably denoted Calophyllum kajewskii.

PMP		*bitaquR	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’ (ACD)
POc		*pitaquR	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’ (Blust 1984: Calophyllum sp.)
Adm	Mussau	[ŋ]itau	‘Calophyllum, coastal variety, tree from which slitgong is made’
Adm	Lou	pito	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
Adm	Seimat	hita	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
Adm	Loniu	pitow	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
Adm	Nauna	pitɨʔ	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
Adm	Aua	piʔaw	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
Adm	Titan	pitow	‘tree sp.’
MM	Meramera	vitau	‘Calophyllum’
MM	Teop	vitawa	‘large tree, about 20m. tall, Pentaspadon minutiflora (Anacardiaceae)’ (Record 1945)
MM	Nduke	vizolo	‘Calophyllum vitiense’
MM	Roviana	vi-vizolo	‘Calophyllum vitiense’
MM	Marovo	vi-vijolo	‘Calophyllum vitiense’
PROc		*vitaquR	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
SV	Sye	na-viⁿru	‘Meryta neoebudica’
SV	Anejom̃	na-hitau	‘tree sp.’
NCal	Nyelâyu	pʰic	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
NCal	Pije	vʰic	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
NCal	Fwâi	vʰic	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
NCal	Nemi	fic	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
NCal	Jawe	pʰic	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
NCal	Nyelâyu	pʰic	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
NCal	Nêlêmwa	fek	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
Mic	Kiribati	itai	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
Mic	Kosraean	itʌ	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
Mic	Mokilese	icɔw	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
Mic	Ponapean	isow	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
PCP		*vetaqu	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
Fij	Bauan	vetau	‘tree sp., Mammea odorata yielding a dye and a useful timber’ (ACD)
Fij	Wayan	vetau	‘tree sp., probably Mammea odorata’
Fij	Rotuman	hefau	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
Pn	Tongan	fetaʔu	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
Pn	Niuean	fetau	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
Pn	East Futunan	fetaʔu	‘tree sp., Calophyllum sp.’
Pn	Emae	fetau	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
Pn	Samoan	fetau	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
Pn	Pukapukan	wetau	‘large tree, excellent for making canoes’
Pn	Rennellese	hetaʔu	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
Pn	Tikopia	fetau	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’

The cognate set below supports the reconstruction of PMM *bu(y)ap ‘Calophyllum inophyllum’. If the Tokelauan form is also cognate, then the form can be reconstructed to POc. Biggs & Clark (1993) attribute Tokelauan pua to the cognate set reflecting PPn *pua ‘Fagraea berteroana or other tree with showy flowers’ (which I take to reflect POc *buRat ‘Fagraea berteroana’; §5.6), but it may well be cognate with the Meso-Melanesian terms below.

PMM		*bu(y)ap	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
MM	East Kara	vuəf	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
MM	Tabar	buau	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
MM	Lihir	boio	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
MM	Patpatar	boiah	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
MM	Nehan	beu	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
Pn	Tokelauan	pua	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’

POc *tamanu evidently contrasted with *pitaquR ‘Calophyllum inophyllum’, and probably denoted one of the tall inland species listed above, as suggested by the Mussau gloss. The Fijian and Niuean reflexes denote Calophyllum vitiense, one of these inland species.

POc		*tamanu	‘Calophyllum sp.’ (ACD: Calophyllum inophyllum’)
Adm	Mussau	tamanu	‘large-leafed Calophyllum sp. found in the interior’ (ACD)
Fij	Wayan	damanu	‘Calophyllum vitiense’
Fij	Bauan	damanu	‘Calophyllum vitiense, very tall and straight, excellent for canoes’
Pn	Niuean	tamanu	‘an inland tree, Calophyllum vitiense’
Pn	Tongan	tamanu	‘Calophyllum neoebudicum’ (Whistler 1991b: 118-119)
Pn	East Futunan	tamanu	‘tree sp., Calophyllum sp.’
Pn	Samoan	tamanu	‘Calophyllum neoebudicum’ (Whistler 2000: 201)
Pn	Tahitian	tamanu	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
Pn	Hawaiian	kamani	‘large tree, Calophyllum inophyllum’
Pn	Tuamotuan	tamanu	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
Pn	Rarotongan	tamanu	‘the native: mahogany, Calophyllum inophyllum’

cf. also:

SES

Kwara’ae

kaumanu

‘Calophyllum casiferum’

Although a number of the reflexes below are glossed Calophyllum inophyllum, the Gela and Sa’a reflexes point to an inland species, probably Calophyllum kajewskii, as the gloss of PEOc *bakuRa.

PEOc		*bakuRa	‘Calophyllum sp., probably Calophyllum kajewskii’ (Geraghty 1990)
SES	Gela	baɣula	‘large forest tree sp.’
SES	Lau	baule	‘Calophyllum sp.’
SES	Kwaio	baʔula	‘Calophyllum kajewskii’
SES	Kwara’ae	baʔula	‘Calophyllum kajewskii’
SES	Sa’a	paule	‘tree growing on the hills, makes good boat masts’
SES	Arosi	baʔura	‘tree sp.’
NCV	Mwotlap	b[ʋ]wʋy	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
NCV	Mota	pawura	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
NCV	Ambae	bagure	‘Calophyllum sp.’
NCV	Araki	(vi)tᫀaura	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
NCV	Raga	baɣura	‘tree sp.’
NCV	Uripiv	bauɾ	‘Calophyllum sp.’
NCV	Nese	na-dᫀayro	‘Calophyllum sp.’
NCV	Paamese	voule	‘Calophyllum sp.’
NCV	Lewo	(puru)pala	‘Calophyllum sp.’
NCV	Baki	(buru)beulo	‘Calophyllum sp.’
NCV	Namakir	bakir	‘Calophyllum sp.’
NCV	Nguna	na-pakura	‘Calophyllum sp.’
NCV	South Efate	pakur	‘Calophyllum sp.’
SV	Sye	poɣur	‘Calophyllum neoebudicum’
SV	Anejom̃	(n)peɣe	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
NCal	Pije	pio	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
NCal	Jawe	pio	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
NCal	Nêlêmwa	fiiyo	‘Calophyllum caledonicum’
NCal	Nyelâyu	phio	‘Calophyllum montanum’

The forms reconstructed below also denoted a Calophyllum species.

PCEMP *talo is reconstructed on the basis of the data here and Ngadha (CMP) talo ‘Calophyllum inophyllum’ (Verheijen 1990). PCP *dilo below may well be a case of chance resemblance, as the -i- of the Central Pacific cognate set cannot be reconciled with the -a- of the cognate set supporting POc *dalo.

PCEMP		*talo	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
POc		*dalo	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’ (Milh 1968)
PT	Muyuw	dan	‘Calophyllum streimannii, Calophyllum vexans’
SES	Gela	dalo	‘shore tree sp.’
SES	Sa’a	dalo	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
SES	Kwara’ae	dalo	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
SES	Lau	dalo	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
Fij	Bauan	dalo(voði)	‘Hernandia olivacea’ (Keppel et al. 2005)

cf. also:

	PCP	*dilo	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
Fij	Bauan	dilo	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
Fij	Wayan	dilo	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
Pn	East Futunan	tilo	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’19
Pn	Takuu	tilo	‘crown of a tree’

The reconstruction below depends on the inference that Muyuw apul is cognate with the two NNG items. From its sound correspondences apul seems to be a borrowing from a Bwaidoga or Are-Taupota language; it is not directly inherited.

PNGOc		*sabʷa(r,R)i	‘Calophyllum sp.’
NNG	Takia	sabor	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
NNG	Manam	saboari	‘tree sp.’
NNG	Kairiru	sapar	‘Calophyllum inophyllum’
PT	Muyuw	apul	‘Calophyllum peekelii’

5.4. Casuarina equisetifolia, casuarina, beach she-oak, TP yar, B aeantri, oktri (Casuarinaceae)⇫

Casuarina equisetifolia is a large coastal tree with an oddly feathery appearance caused by its needle-like leaves. Typically it grows to 20m, but Frederick Damon (pers.comm.) reports specimens on Woodlark Island of 40-45 m, towering above the rest of the forest. It yields heavy hard dark red-brown wood. The casuarina is used for building throughout most of NW Island Melanesia. In Kwara’ae country, clubs and axe handles are also made from it (Floyd 1954, Peekel 1984: 123, Kwa’ioloa & Burt 2001: 143, Whistler & Elevitch 2006b).