Valuable Plants

Of Fiji

By H. B. R. Parham

THE Fijian Group of Islands is richly en dowed with indigenous trees, shrubs and herbs, which could be made useful, and profitable commercially, as dyes, per fumes and medicines.

It is, indeed, rather surprising that such an interesting field for exploitation has been so little brought to the notice of the outer world.

It is my purpose, in these brief notes, to draw attention, in the first place, to the plants which have been made use of by the natives in former times as dyes, and which grow freely in the vei kau (bush) of these islands.

Some of these the old-time Fijians were accustomed to use: (1) to stencil their masi (tapa ); (2) to colour their pottery; and (3) both to adorn their bodies and to dye their abundant hair.

Taking the last first, we find the Wiwi is xised still, as it has been used for untold generations, as a hair dye. The Wimi is the Koelreuteria sp. of botanists, and is considered a very interesting plant on ac count of its having been quite recently

found growing, apparently quite at home, in parts of Fiji, whereas, hitherto, it was not known to be indigenous in any coun try outside China and the Isle of Formosa.

It has been fo,und growing near the big limestone rocks at Qara Qalimare, and some trees grow, and are well established, although less plentiful, in the bush near Bemana and Saru.

It is rather amusing to see how very effectually this black'dye colours the hair of the dusky village belles, who were prob ably content before with having their frizzled hair the colour of a tawny lion, or that shade we look for in a child’s “teddy bear! ”

To obtain the much-prized black hair dye, many of the present-day village folk are well pleased to use the juice extracted from the leaves of the Mauritius bean — and a queer sight these young people pre sent while the process is being carried on, with streams of Stygian blackness slowly coursing down their laughing faces, while their mop-like heads of hair look as if they had dipped their polls into a big ink-well!

There is a vine also known locally as the wa kara, that makes a very black dye.

This vine has beautiful red and blue flow ers with white centres, and is not unlike the well known yaka ( Pachyrhizus tri lobus) except that the leaf is dissimilar.

Like the yaka, it climbs, and may be seen far above one’s head, clinging in its jaunty fashion to the high-up branches of some tall tree.

To obtain the dye, the natives take pieces of the stem of the tea kara, and beat it with a heavy hammer, if they possess such a thing—with a big stone, otherwise; and in this way they extract the juicy mucilage, which they mix with coconut oil. The result is a very black dye, We come then to the plant which sup plied the natives formerly with a good substitute for paint and powder. Of course, I am referring to the very well known Rerega —the product of the native tumeric —the Cago (Curcuma Tonga domes tica, or the Amomum curcuma of botani cal books).

The Cago (Thango) is found in both Viti Levu and Vanua Levu and, according to Seemann, in all the lower districts —by which presumably the great botanist means that this tuberous plant loves the lowlands, rather than the heights.

It is a little misleading to give the name Saffron to the Cago, as has been. done in the past, for though Cago has a similar colouring matter in its roots (or rhizomes), it does not belong to the same botanical order as the Saffron. The latter is a crocus (Iridaceac ): the former a curcuma (Sci tamineae).

Besides being used as an ingredient in curry, cago is a native toilet powder. The Kai Viti were accustomed in olden times to use the powdered root extensively as a paint, for the maramas, on especially in teresting occasions. “In fact,” says See mann, “tumeric powder, with the Fijian, is what rouge and similar preparations are with us—a cosmetic, promoting in their opinion health and beauty. . . The manu facture of tumeric is similar to that of arrowroot.”

Mr. C. D. Bates, patrol officer in the Chimbu area, New Guinea, who is in Sydney on long leave, will be the guest of honour and principal speaker at a gathering arranged by the Polynesian Club of Sydney on October 21. The club has met with such a measure of support that the committee have arranged for club rooms for a weekly gathering in Jamieson Street, Sydney. The monthly gatherings will, however, continue to be held at The Green Door, George Street.