Native Hawaiian plants make up a unique flora because of the extreme isolation of the Hawaiian Islands. When the Polynesian settlers arrived, they encountered many plants that they did not know before. Over the course of generations, the Hawaiian people learned how to use the native flora to meet their needs. Along with the crops that the settlers introduced from the South Pacific, native plants became the basis for Hawaiian society and economy.

In addition to describing the plants and their habitats, this guide relates the significance that native and Polynesian-introduced plants had to traditional Hawaiian culture, and tells how these plants are still used today.

Noa Kekuewa Lincoln is a student of Hawaiian culture, traditional and modern, and the former education manager at Amy B. H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden. His current doctoral work at Stanford University applies Hawaiian ethnobotanical knowledge to prevailing issues of sustainable agriculture and ecological management.

Available at Bishop Museum's Shop Pacifica (phone 808-848-4158, email at shop@bishopmuseum.org) and other fine bookstores throughout the islands.

Tags: Amy Greenwell, Bishop Museum Press, flora, garden, Noa Kekuewa Lincoln, plants

This entry was posted on Friday, September 10th, 2010 at 6:42 am and is filed under Hawaii Plant Life / Nature. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.