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5 plants worth knowing

Samoa

Samoa consists of two large volcanic islands – Upolu and Savai’i – and several smaller islets. Their mountainous interiors are covered in humid rainforest and cloud forest, while the lower slopes and coasts are taken up by village gardens with coconut palms, taro, bananas and breadfruit trees. Roughly a third of the native flowering plants are endemic to the archipelago.

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

where it grows

  1. Red ginger 1

    perennial · National flower of Samoa

    Red ginger

    Alpinia purpurata

    The red teuila is Samoa’s national flower – and it gives its name to the country’s biggest festival, celebrated in Apia every year.
  2. Coconut palm 2

    palm · Coconut palm on the national emblem (state seal) of Samoa

    Coconut palm

    Cocos nucifera

    A coconut palm rises from the sea on Samoa’s emblem – it provides cream for palusami, oil for export and fibre for lashing traditional fale houses.
  3. Taro 3

    crop

    Taro

    Colocasia esculenta

    Talo is the foundation of the Samoan table – in 1993 leaf blight wiped out the crops and all exports, and it took years to rebuild with resistant varieties.
  4. Thatch screwpine 4

    tree

    Thatch screwpine

    Pandanus tectorius

    Finely cut pandanus leaves are woven into ’ie toga – delicate mats that are the most precious gift in Samoan ceremonies.
  5. Mamala tree 5

    tree

    Mamala tree

    Homalanthus nutans

    From the bark of the mamala tree, used by Samoan healers, scientists isolated prostratin – a promising compound in HIV research.