Tree, 5-22 m tall. Leaves ovate with 5-9 palmate veins. Flowers white or greenish with fragrant odour. Fruit fleshy and waxy, red or white. It is believed to be seed dispersed by flying foxes (bats).

It occurs throughout the tropics, exclusively in coastal areas.

No known.

The Chinese lantern tree has a light, perishable wood and has been used for many things, like fishing rods, fish net floats, wooden sandals, fan handles, furniture etc.

Thorny, deciduous tree, growing up to 25 m tall. Leaves pinnate with three leaflets (each up to 20 cm long and broad). Dense clusters of red flowers and black seeds. It is valued as an ornamental tree.

Native to the tropical and subtropical regions of eastern Africa, India, northern Australia and the Island of the Indian and Pacific Ocean east to Fiji.

No known.

The seeds are poisonous in their raw state, but can be cooked and eaten.

Large, low-branching, slow-growing, evergreen tree, containing essential oils (culturally important tamanu oil). Crown broad and irregular. Usually 10-20 m tall. White flowers. Fruit is a round, green drupe (2-4 cm) with one single seed.

Because of ist decorative leaves, fragrant flowers and spreading crown, it is a famous ornamental plant around the world.

Native to tropical Asia. Now, widely cultivated in all tropical regions of the world.

Commonly used in traditional medicine. Many of these uses have been supported by modern research into the plant. Coumarins isolated from the leaves and seeds have been shown to be inhibitors of HIV type 1. They might also be valuable as cancer chemo-preventive agents. Seed extracts showed significant molluscicidal activity; the hydroxy acid caliphyllid acid was isolated as the active compound. The ether extract of the leaves showed piscicidal activity. The oil has cicatrizing properties, explaining its traditional and modern use in a wide range of skin problems. The oil has also shown anti-inflammatory, antifungal, antibacterial and insecticidal activity. It stimulates phagocytosis of cells of the reticulo-endothelial system and has protective activity on the vascular system. Clinical tests showed that the oil may reduce old scars. The refined oil, which is pale yellow, has strongly diminished medicinal properties. The bark is astringent and contains 11 – 19% tannins and is reportedly antiseptic and disinfectant. The oleoresin from the bark, which contains benzoic acid, shows cicatrizing properties. A root decoction is traditionally used to treat ulcers, boils and ophthalmia. The bark is used to treat orchitis. The latex is rubbed on the skin in the treatment of rheumatism and psoriasis. The latex and pounded bark are applied externally on wounds, ulcers and to treat phthisis, orchitis and lung affections, and are also used internally as a purgative, after childbirth and to treat gonorrhoea. The resin is used to treat wounds and insect bites. A leaf infusion is used to treat sore eyes, haemorrhoids and dysentery. Heated leaves are applied as a poultice to cuts, sores, ulcers, boils and skin rash. The leaves are used in inhalations to treat migraine and vertigo. The seed oil is applied externally as an analgesic against rheumatism and sciatica, and as a medication against swellings, ulcers, scabies, ringworm, boils and itch. The flowers are used as a heart tonic

Due to its importance as a source of timber (traditional shipbuilding), it has been spread in prehistoric times by the migrations of the Austronesian peoples to the islands of Oceania and Madagascar.

Woody, evergreen, perennial herb. Fragrant, needle-like leaves (essential oils). Flowers white, pink, purple or blue.

Rosemary is used as one of the most famous herbs in the culinary arts, but also as an attractive and drought-tolerant ornamental plant in gardens and parks.

Native to the Mediterranean region, today widespread in tropical, subtropical and temperate regions around the world.

No known.

The name «rosemary» derives from Latin «ros marinus» (“dew of the sea”).

Rosemary may have pest control effects in gardens.

Shrub, growing up to 3 m. Flowers red or pink, very distinctive in their frilly, finely divided petals. Leaves resemble those of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis (#55 plant tour).

Native to tropical eastern Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Mosambique). Today, widespread as ornamental plant in tropical and subtropical gardens and parks.

No known.

In Fijian, the word “Senitoa” is used for Hibiscus flowers in general.

Cymbopogon are evergreen, clump-forming, perennial grasses, 60-140 cm tall. Rich in essential oils, used for citronella oil, insect repellent and in the culinary arts (depending on the species).

Genus Cymbopogon native to Asia, Africa and Australia.

No known.

The most famous lemongrass is Cymbopogon citratus, commonly cultivated as culinary and medicinal herb because of its scent, resembling that of lemons.

Evergreen bamboo species, up to 15 m tall. Culm diameter 8 cm. Clump-forming. Yellow woody culms with green stripes.

Used by Polynesians to produce baskets, mats, musical instruments, fishing rods etc.

Native to South-Central Pacific (like Fiji). Today, cultivated in the United States of America.

The powdered culms are mixed with water and consumed as a treatment for a sharp pain in the stomach and pain associated with profuse sweating.

The ashes of the culms, combined with powdered Cyperus javanicus and Diospyros spp., as well as the sap of green kukui fruits (Aleurites moluccana) and ripe papaya (Carica papaya), is applied topically as a treatment for festering raw sores.

On the French Polynesian island Mo’orea, thickets of these bamboo were likely the exclusive breeding habitat of the critically endangered Moorea reed warbler (bird). Development, overharvesting and the invasive Miconia plant have severely depleted these thickets, and the warbler is now feared extinct.

Trees of this genus typically reach 6-12 m. Flowers with five petals, fragrant. Begin of flowering in late winter and often continues into early summer. Very easy to recognize leaves with two lobes, looking like a butterfly.

Mainly planted in SE-Asia and India, but common around the tropics as an ornamental tree.

No known.

The genus Bauhinia was named after the two Swiss-French botanists Gaspard and Johann Bauhin. It is related (same family) to legumes.

Delicate, tropical, perennial plant, often cultivated as a half-hardy annual plant in temperate climates. Stem spiny. Flowers white to purple, with a five-lobed corolla and yellow stamens. Fruit edible but low in nutrients, but the capability of the fruit to absorb oils and flavours into its flesh through cooking expands its use in the culinary arts.

Native to India. Cultivated in Southern and Eastern Asia since prehistoric. Today grown worldwide for its edible fruit.

The aubergine is used mainly as a food crop, but it does also have various medicinal uses that make it a valuable addition to the diet. The fruit helps to lower blood cholesterol levels and is suitable as part of a diet to help regulate high blood pressure. The warmed fruit paste is applied to painful joints. The fruit is anti-haemorrhoidal and hypotensive. It is also used as an antidote to poisonous mushrooms. It is bruised with vinegar and used as a poultice for cracked nipples, abscesses and haemorrhoids. The leaves are narcotic and poisonous. A decoction is applied to discharging sores and internal haemorrhages. A soothing and emollient poultice for the treatment of burns, abscesses, cold sores, haemorrhoids and similar conditions can be made from the leaves. Aubergine leaves are toxic and should only be used externally. The ashes of the peduncle are used in the treatment of intestinal haemorrhages, piles and toothache. A decoction of the root is anti-asthmatic, astringent and general stimulant. It is made into a powder and applied both internally and externally as a remedy for bleeding.

The juice of the root is used in the treatment of otitis and toothache.

Botanically, eggplant is not a vegetable but a berry.

Eggplant is very close related (same genus) to potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) and tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum).

Palm tree, up to 20-25 m tall. Trunk stout, very smooth and grey-white with a characteristic bulge below a distinctive green crownshaft.

Root nodules containing Rhizobium bacteria have been found on Roystonea regia trees in India, normally known from Fabaceae-species. This was the first (!) record of root nodules in a monocotyledonous tree.

Native to Mexico, Central America, Carribean and Southern Florida. Today, planted as ornamental palm throughout the tropics and subtropics.

No known.

Best known as an ornamental palm tree, it is also used as a source of thatch and construction timber. It is the National tree of Cuba and has a religious role in many countries used by Christians in Palm Sunday observances.