The Ethnobotany of Tonga: The Plants, Their Tongan Names, and Their Uses (Bishop Museum Bulletins in Botany)

Abstract: An ethnobotanical survey of the Polynesian island nation of Tonga was carried out during five field trips to the archipelago from 1987 to 1990. Through a preliminary review of the literature, interviews with knowledgeable Tongans, and excursions into forests and plantations with local guides, information on names and uses (particularly medicinal uses) was compiled. the result is an alphabetical checklist of approximately 620 Tongan plant names. Each entry includes the plant's scientific name, English name (if any), other Tongan names, and cognates from other Polynesian languages. Plant uses, both current ones from the interviews and former ones recorded in literature, are described, and voucher specimens for further verification are cited.