Tree, 15-25 m tall, with a large canopy. Leaves alternate. Flowers in clusters: white, purple and pink, blossoming throughout the year. The tree is well adapted to intense heat, sunlight and droughts. Root nodules promote nitrogen fixation (typical for Fabaceae – the bean family).

Native to eastern and tropical Asia, Australia and the Pacific Islands

No known.

The seed oil has been found to be useful in diesel generators and is being explored in hundreds of projects throughout India and the third world as feedstock for biodiesel.

Perennial climbing tree, up to 12 m tall. Although it produces true leaves as a seedling, like most members of this section of the genus, the mature plant does not have true leaves but has leaf-like flattened stems called phyllodes. The Tatakia tree is abundant along sandy beaches and on the inner edges of mangrove swamps. It is never found far from the sea.

Native to islands in the western part of the Pacific Ocean. It is also found in Argentina.

The bark of all Acacia species contains greater or lesser quantities of tannins and are astringent. Astringents are often used medicinally – taken internally, for example. they are used in the treatment of diarrhoea and dysentery and can also be helpful in cases of internal bleeding. Applied externally, often as a wash, they are used to treat wounds and other skin problems, haemorrhoids, perspiring feet, some eye problems, as a mouth wash etc.
Many Acacia trees also yield greater or lesser quantities of a gum from the trunk and stems. This is sometimes taken internally in the treatment of diarrhoea and haemorrhoids.

The tree is used as a toxin in fishing. It incapacitates the fish, but it is apparently not harmful to people.

Perennial, tropical plant. Primarily grown as a root vegetable for its edible, starchy corm. Leaves up to 40×35 cm and sprout from the rhizome, dark green above and light green beneath, highly water-repellent. Taro is one of few crops (along with rice and lotus) that can be grown under flooded conditions.

Native to Southern India and Southeast Asia but is widely naturalized in tropical and subtropical regions around the world. Taro corms are a food staple in African, Oceanic and South Asian cultures.

The plant is antibacterial and hypotensive.
A decoction of the leaves is drunk to promote menstruation.
A decoction, together with some parts of other plants, is taken to relieve stomach problems and to treat cysts.
In New Guinea, the leaves are heated over a fire and are applied as a poultice to boils.
The sap of the leaf stalk is used in treating conjunctivitis
The scraped stem, together with some parts of other plants, is used to create an appetite.
The plant is used to treat wounds.

Taro is believed to have been one of the earliest cultivated plants.

Rhizomatous, evergreen, perennial herb, up to 4.5 m tall. Gigantic leaves (up to 180 x 120 cm), arrow-shaped at their bases and stand upright, pointing skyward (unlike the leaves of Colocasia which droop and point toward the ground). Flowers consist of a yellowish-green spathe and spadix. The plant performs best in part shade in organically rich, moist to wet soils.

Native to the rainforests from Borneo (Malaysia) to Queensland (Australia). It has long been cultivated on many Pacific Islands and elsewhere in the tropics.

No known.

The giant, heart-shaped leaves are used to drink from or make impromptu umbrellas and also to cover the food placed in Fijian ground ovens called “lovo”.

Tropical, evergreen, monoecious (male and female flowers) shrub, up to 3 m tall. Leaves large, thick, leathery, shiny, alternate, 5-30 cm long and 0.5-8 cm wide, colored green, yellow or purple in various patterns, depending on the variety. When cut, the stems bleed a milky sap.

Native to Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia and the western Pacific Ocean islands, growing in open forests. Widely distributed in tropical and subtropical regions as an ornamental and in even temperate areas as house plant.

The leaves are abortifacient, antiamoebic, antibacterial, anticancer, antifungal, antioxidant, emmenagogue, purgative and sedative.
A decoction of the crushed leaves is used in the treatment of diarrhoea.
Chewing three leaves and then swallowing the juice is used to stimulate menstrual flow, to induce an abortion or to facilitate parturition.
The leaf sap is drunk and also applied topically to treat a snake bite.
The sap of the leaves, combined with coconut milk, is used in the treatment of syphilitic lesions.
The young leaves, combined with Pandanus macroieacceretia, coconut milk and the root sap of Areca catechu, is used in the treatment of gonorrhoea.
The green liquid from boiled leaves is used as a wash to ease fevers.
The sap from the leaves or the bark is used to treat sores and fungal infections.
A decoction of the root is used in the treatment of gastric ulcers.
The root combined with betel nut (Areca catechu) is chewed as a treatment for stomach-ache and to give temporary relief from toothache.
Studies have shown the leaves and shoots to be rich in alkaloids (most abundant), cardiac glycosides, saponins, tannins, cardenolides, flavonoids, steroids and phyllites.
Phytochemical screening of six clone cultivars showed bioactive constituents that included alkaloids, anthraquinones, flavonoids, terpenes, steroid, phenol, saponins, tannins, phlobatannin and cardenolide, which suggests their use as antibacterial, ant amoebic and antifungal.
In a study of 55 traditional medicinal plants in Cameroon, only the leaves extract of this species exhibited a clear ant amoebic activity that was more pronounced than the conventional treatment metronidazole.A study showed the latex to have a high molluscicide activity against freshwater snails.

Garden croton (Codiaeum variegatum) should not be confused with the Croton (Rushfoil), a cosmopolitan genus also in the Euphorbiaceae, containing more than 700 species of herbs, shrubs and trees.

Evergreen, palm-like, woody plant, up to 3 m tall. Fan-like and spirally arranged cluster of broadly elongated leaves at the tip of the slender trunk. Numerous color variations, ranging from red to green to variegated forms. Yellowish to red flowers that mature into red berries. The plant is of great cultural importance to the traditional animistic religions of Austronesian and Papuan people of the Pacific Islands, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Island Southeast Asia. It is also cultivated for food, traditional medicine and as an ornamental for its variously colored leaves.

Original native distribution unknown but believed to be in Southeast Asia and New Guinea. It was carried throughout Oceania by Austronesians (canoe plant).

An infusion of the leaves is used as a remedy for swellings, inflammations and for dry fevers.
The juice of the leaves is used to treat colds and coughs, stomach-ache, eczema and gastritis.
An infusion of three crushed leaves of the purple cultivar is used to treat high blood pressure.
The leaf buds are used to treat lower chest pains.
Filariasis is treated with a solution made from the new plant shoots.
Applied externally, the juice of the leaves is used to treat earache and infected eyes.
An infusion of the leaves in oil is used to treat wounds.
The leaves are crushed with oil and applied to abscesses of the gums.
The lower portion of the leaf is macerated in olive oil and used as a cataplasm or tampon for treating wounds.
Liquid from the stem is used to treat sickness after childbirth and to help expel the afterbirth.
The root is used to treat inflammations, baldness, toothache and laryngitis.
Pieces of the root, soaked in vinegar, are used to make a preparation against bleeding.

Palm lily” is neither a palm (Arecaceae) nor a lily (Liliaceae). It belongs to the asparagus family (Asparagaceae) and is closely related (same genus) to the Cabbage tree (Cordyline australis), endemic to New Zealand.

Erect, evergreen, perennial herb, up to 2 m tall. Leaves with prominent central nervation. Pseudostems (formed by the leaf sheaths) emerge from underground rhizomes. The inflorescence (cluster of flowers) range in colourful hues of yellow, orange and red. The inflorescence consists of brightly colored, waxy bracts (special leaves at the base of flowers) arranged alternately on the stem that encloses and protect small flowers. Flowers produce an abundance of nectar, attracting hummingbirds.

Native to South America and the Caribbean. It is often cultivated as a tropical ornamental plant in regions outside its native range.

No known.

This Is commonly confused with the Bird of paradise (Strelizia reginae), but in fact belongs to a different family and Is often called the “False bird of paradise”.

Bulbous, perennial herb, up to 70 cm tall. Bulb up to 10 cm in diameter. Flowers large, white, vanilla scented. Each flower’s tube is 14 cm or longer.

Native to warmer coastal regions of Latin America and widely cultivated and naturalized in many tropical countries.

The bulb is astringent, diuretic, emetic and expectorant.
It is used to induce vomiting and to treat swellings.
The grated bulb is used to extract larvae of skin parasites by applying pulp to the respiratory orifice of the larva in order to smother it.
The heated leaves are positioned over the spleen to reduce an hypertrophied spleen.
They are also used as an external treatment of malaria and also to treat sprains and swelling.

Hymenocallis is derived from Greek and means “membraned beauty”, a reference to its filament cup. Littoralis means “growing by the seashore”.

Tree, up to 9 m tall. Leaves large, simple, opposite, dark green, shiny and deeply veined. Flowers and fruits all year round. Botanically, the fruit is a multiple fruit, 10-18 cm long, very strong vomit-like smell (to attract fruit bats for seed dispersal). At first green, the fruit turns yellow then almost white as it ripens. It contains many seeds. Noni grows in shady forests as well as on open rocky or sandy shores, tolerant of saline soils and drought conditions. It is especially attractive to weaver ants, which make nests from the leaves of the tree. These ants protect the plant from some plant-parasitic insects. Hence, it is a mutualistic symbiosis.

Native to Southeast Asia and Australasia. Brought to Pacific islands as canoe plant by Austronesian voyagers. The species is now cultivated throughout the tropics and widely naturalized.

Nowadays, single trees are encouraged or cultivated in gardens mainly for medicinal purposes.
The curative properties of the plant parts are ascribed to the presence of medicinally active anthraquinone derivates.
The fruit contains rancid smelling capric acid and unpleasant tasting caprylic acid. It is thought that antibiotically active compounds are present.
The roots are febrifuge, tonic and antiseptic.
They are used to treat stiffness and tetanus and have been proven to combat arterial tension.
An infusion of the root is used in treating urinary disorders.
The bark is used in a treatment to aid childbirth.
Externally, the root is crushed and mixed with oil and is used as a smallpox salve.
An infusion of the root bark is used to treat skin diseases.
The roots are harvested as required and used in decoctions.
The wilted or heated leaf is applied as a poultice to painful swellings in order to bring relief.
A poultice of the leaves is applied to wounds or to the head in order to relieve headaches.
The crushed leaves, mixed with oil, are applied to the face for the treatment of neuralgia.
The leaves are harvested as required during the growing season.
The fruits are used as a diuretic, a laxative, an emollient and as an emmenagogue, for treating asthma and other respiratory problems, as a treatment for arthritic and comparable inflammations, in cases of leucorrhoea and copraemia and for maladies of the inner organs.
Liquid pressed from young fruit is snuffed into each nostril to treat bad breath and raspy voice.
It is also used in the treatment of mouth ulcers, haemorrhoids, hernia or swollen testicles, headaches, pain caused by barb of poisonous fish, removal of a splinter, childbirth, diabetes, diarrhoea and dysentery, fever, intestinal worms, filariasis, leprosy, and tuberculosis.
Young fruits are used to treat high blood pressure.
The fruits can be harvested ripe or unripe and are sometimes charred and mixed with salt for medicinal use.
The roots, leaves and fruits may have anthelmintic properties. In traditional medicine the parts used are administered raw or as juices and infusions or in ointments and poultices.

Noni is sometimes called a “starvation fruit”, implying that it was used by indigenous peoples as emergency food during times of famine. Despite its strong smell (vomit-like) and bitter taste, the fruit was nevertheless eaten, in some Pacific islands even as a staple food, either raw or cooked.

Evergreen shrub, up to 3 m tall. Closely arranged stem with many branches. Both branches and leaves are covered in fine hairs. Leaves coppery green with red splashes, flat or crinkled, with teeth around the edge, 10-20 cm long and 15 cm wide. Monoecious (separate male and female flowers on the same plant).

Native to the Pacific Islands. In tropical and subtropical America, Copperleaf is a popular outdoor plant. In some areas, it is also grown indoors. However, it must be maintained in a warm, humid, bright environment.

The roots and flowers, fresh or in decoction, are considered a remedy for haemoptysis.
The leaves are used to treat thrush.
A poultice of the leaves is used in the treatment of leprosy.
Internally, it is used as a laxative and diuretic in treating gonorrhoea.
The bark is applied as an expectorant in the treatment of asthma.

An ointment made of Copperleaf is used to treat fungal skin diseases in conventional medicine.