Customer Reviews

Plants in Hawaiian Medicine

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Beatrice Krauss was a beloved ethnobotanist who spent a great deal of her lifetime studying Hawaiian plants and their uses; she was the first woman to earn a degree in agriculture from the University of Hawai`i. Her book is very well done and nicely illustrated with B&W line drawings by Martha Noyes (an award-winning writer and artist). Each of the 30 plants covered here has its own chapter with a nicely consistent set of information for each one. Included for each plant are: notes on the plant family, ecosystem and the history of its arrival in Hawai`i; a physical description and drawing; general (non-medicinal) uses; ancient uses and contemporary uses. Krauss cautions that her book is not to be used as a manual for medical practice!

One thing that you begin to notice right away in Krauss' book is that plants that we think of predominantly in terms of food or crafts actually had medicinal uses (like hala, taro, ti, sugar cane, koa, guava, kukui, seaweed, banana, mountain apple and sweet potato). Other interesting tidbits emerge as you read about each plant. For example, the word pupu (commonly used for "hors d`oeuvre" here) originally referred to a piece of banana that was eaten while drinking `awa (which is a tad unpalatable until you get used to it). Coral cuts are notorious for becoming infected. The next time you get a coral cut while snorkeling, snag a length of floating limu (seaweed), chew it and put it on the wound! The current fad of pushing noni as a cure for everything has little basis in historical Hawai`i - the plant's primary use was as a dye for tapa cloth. So.... you say you want to know how the Hawaiians used the sweet potato medicinally? How about for inducing vomiting, treating asthma, clearing up chest congestion, curing insomnia and increasing a nursing mother's milk supply - not too bad for a common food! This book is a fun, quick read and good to have on hand for reference.

Plants in Hawaiian Medicine, by Beatrice H. Krauss, is a short (150 pp.; 30 plants) book on traditional and contemporary uses of plants in Hawaii for medicinal purposes. The plants range from the well known (kalo [taro], noni [Indian mulberry], 'awa [kava], panini 'awa'awa [aloe]), to the more obscure ('ohi'a lehua ["ironwood"]).

Plants played a vital role in traditional Hawaiian life as food, shelter, clothing, medicine, transportation, and utilities. Although some of the common medicinal plants were endemic to the main Hawaiian islands, many were brought from the Marquesas by the Polynesians. They were brought, presumably, because they were considered valuable plants for food and medicine.

A considerable number of the traditional medicinal uses were for the treatment of thrush, a yeast fungus (Candida albican) infection of the mouth, especially for children. I assume by this (and it is an assumption) that this is because this was a common and troublesome aliment in infants. Given the nastiness of chewing on any part of the kalo plant [taro], with its "needlelike crystals of calcium oxalate," which if chewed are " released explosively, lodging in the lining of the mouth and tongue and causing great irritation," and the common presence of karo plants and products throughout Hawaiian life, I would suspect that infants become susceptible to this infection because of this irritation, leading to susceptibility (greater than in other populations) of infection by the thrush organism. Check out a website on "oral thrush disease" for more information on this.

There are some species in this book that were never present until after contact with Captain Cook (for example, kuawa [guava]. They were included by Krauss because these species were quickly added to the medicine cabinet of Hawaiian healers (kahuna la'au lapa'au).

Most of the plants have little application in contemporary medicine, although it is well known that pharmacological companies have renewed their interest in traditional medicines.

This is an inexpensive book, well-organized, that gives the reader insight into the culture of the traditional Hawaiian people. However, I am required by ethics to note that I am related to the late Bea Krauss by marriage. All proceeds from this book go to the University of Hawaii Foundation. To get a broader perspective of Bea Krauss' work, you should read her book, Plants in Hawaiian Culture (University of Hawaii Press).