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5 plants worth knowing

Micronesia

The Federated States of Micronesia comprise more than 600 islands in the Caroline archipelago – from the high volcanic islands of Pohnpei and Kosrae to dozens of low-lying atolls. The interior of Pohnpei is one of the rainiest places on Earth and harbours some of the best-preserved montane rainforests in the Pacific, while the coasts of the high islands are fringed with extensive mangrove and swamp forests.

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

where it grows

  1. Kava 1

    shrub

    Kava

    Piper methysticum

    Pohnpei’s sakau is one of the strongest kinds of kava – the fresh roots are pounded on a stone and squeezed through hibiscus bast.
  2. Breadfruit 2

    tree

    Breadfruit

    Artocarpus altilis

    Micronesia has dozens of local breadfruit varieties – baked, boiled or fermented in pits, the fruit is the basis of traditional cooking.
  3. Caroline ivory nut palm 3

    palm

    Caroline ivory nut palm

    Metroxylon amicarum

    A palm endemic to the Caroline Islands whose ivory-hard seeds were shipped abroad in colonial times to be made into buttons.
  4. Terminalia carolinensis 4

    tree

    Terminalia carolinensis

    Terminalia carolinensis

    Kosrae’s swamp forests of ka trees, with umbrella-shaped crowns and moss-covered buttress roots, have no equal anywhere else in the world.
  5. Oriental mangrove 5

    tree

    Oriental mangrove

    Bruguiera gymnorhiza

    The tallest mangrove trees in Micronesia – on Kosrae and Pohnpei they form tidal forests that serve as nurseries for crabs and reef fish.