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5 plants worth knowing

Fiji

Fiji comprises more than 300 volcanic and coral islands, the largest of which – Viti Levu and Vanua Levu – have sharply divided vegetation: the windward eastern slopes are cloaked in humid rainforest, while the leeward western sides are dry grassy hills and sugarcane fields. About half of the native plant species are endemic, including the entire family Degeneriaceae.

Hover over a plant to see on the map where it grows.

where it grows

plants in our catalogue; native and endemic according to WCVP (Kew) · source
  1. Tagimoucia 1

    climber · National flower of Fiji

    nativeendemic

    Tagimoucia

    Medinilla waterhousei

    Tagimoucia grows wild only in the mountains of Taveuni – its red-and-white flower clusters are Fiji’s national flower and grace the 50-dollar note.
  2. Kava 2

    shrub · National drink of Fiji

    cultivated

    Kava

    Piper methysticum

    No ceremony in Fiji happens without yaqona – a guest presents the village chief with a bundle of roots, then everyone drinks from one coconut shell.
  3. Sugarcane 3

    crop

    cultivated

    Sugarcane

    Saccharum officinarum

    For more than a century sugarcane drove Fiji’s economy and brought tens of thousands of labourers from India to the islands.
  4. Merbau 4

    tree

    native

    Merbau

    Intsia bijuga

    The hard, reddish wood of vesi is carved into tanoa kava bowls and the war clubs of old – it is the most prized tree of traditional Fiji.
  5. Masiratu 5

    tree

    nativeendemic

    Masiratu

    Degeneria vitiensis

    Masiratu is a “living fossil” – a member of an endemic family regarded as one of the most primitive among flowering plants.