Sacred Yellow. Cordyline fruticosa, Good Luck Plant or Ti Plant, Papua Waterfall, Takitumu, Rarotonga, Cook Islands
When I hiked in the Papua Waterfall area the other day I saw the pretty, small flowers of Cordyline fruticosa or the Good Luck Plant, or the Ti Plant, as it's called here, which is also widely dispersed elsewhere on the island. Though it hails from the Himalaya and East Indies, it was already widely distributed in Polynesia in pre-European times.
It's a much favored plant no doubt because its roots can be used to sweeten less tasty vegetables but more perhaps because it is reputed to be a great antidote against evil spirits and other nastiness. Hence this Cordyline is often planted in hedges around houses or properties, and even along paths. Its leaves are suitable for braiding, wrapping food and for thatching roofs.
In his wonderful Herbarium Amboinense published long after his death in 1743, Georg Rumphius (1627-1702), great naturalist of the Dutch East Indies, writes extensively on our plant - as he does on all that he describes. He adds that men going to war on Ambon wear it to bring them good fortune.
There's a fascinating and wide-ranging article by Anya E. Hinkle (2003) about this plant including its ritual uses, 'The distribution of a male sterile form of Ti (Cordyline fruticosa) in Polynesia: A case of human selection'.
Sacred Yellow. Cordyline fruticosa, Good Luck Plant or Ti Plant, Papua Waterfall, Takitumu, Rarotonga, Cook Islands
When I hiked in the Papua Waterfall area the other day I saw the pretty, small flowers of Cordyline fruticosa or the Good Luck Plant, or the Ti Plant, as it's called here, which is also widely dispersed elsewhere on the island. Though it hails from the Himalaya and East Indies, it was already widely distributed in Polynesia in pre-European times.
It's a much favored plant no doubt because its roots can be used to sweeten less tasty vegetables but more perhaps because it is reputed to be a great antidote against evil spirits and other nastiness. Hence this Cordyline is often planted in hedges around houses or properties, and even along paths. Its leaves are suitable for braiding, wrapping food and for thatching roofs.
In his wonderful Herbarium Amboinense published long after his death in 1743, Georg Rumphius (1627-1702), great naturalist of the Dutch East Indies, writes extensively on our plant - as he does on all that he describes. He adds that men going to war on Ambon wear it to bring them good fortune.
There's a fascinating and wide-ranging article by Anya E. Hinkle (2003) about this plant including its ritual uses, 'The distribution of a male sterile form of Ti (Cordyline fruticosa) in Polynesia: A case of human selection'.