Beautifully illustrated, this informative book describes the plants integral to Hawaiian medicine and healing, and discusses their uses past and present.

"Hawaiian herbal medicine, as practiced by the ancient Hawaiians, is emerging as a popular alternative to traditional medical practices today. This book provides ancient remedies for such ailments as headache, sore throat, insomnia, disorders in women, general loss of energy, as well as remedies for mending broken bones and insect bites."--Page 4 of cover.

This book is intended as a general introduction to the ethnobotany of the Hawaiians and as such it presumes, on the part of the reader, little background in either botany or Hawaiian ethnology. It describes the plants themselves, whether cultivated or brought from the forests, streams, or ocean, as well as the modes of cultivation and collection. It discusses the preparation and uses of the plant materials, and the methods employed in building houses and making canoes, wearing apparel, and the many other artifacts that were part of the material culture associated with this farming and fishing people.

"The aim of this book is to present a picture of past and present Polynesian medicinal plants. Although several books have been published on herbal medicine in Polynesia, these are either limited in geographic scope (mostly to Hawai'i) or are unscientific in basis. Restricting the study of herbal medicine to a single Polynesian island or archipelago is a disadvantage because the early accounts of medicinal practices are so sketchy. A more comprehensive approach is rewarding because so much can be learned from the similarities among the various Polynesian cultures. A scientific approach is necessary because of the nature of the subject--medicine and plants. "To establish a comprehensive and scientific basis for this book, three types of research were conducted: (1) an extensive review of the literature on Polynesia; (2) interviews with scores of Polynesian healers in Hawai'i, Samoa, Tonga, Tahiti. the Cook Islands, and Tokelau; and (3) botanical collecting work in Polynesia over a twenty-year period, involving over forty research trips to the South Pacific." --from the Preface

"I highly recommend this brief resource booklet for those interested in studying Polynesian and cross-cultural herbal medicines." --Quarterly Review of Biology