"Wayside Plants of the Islands has been designed as a guide book to the identification of the most common plant species encountered in the lowlands of the Pacific Islands. It is based upon the author's 25 years of botanical excursions in Hawai'i, Samoa, Tonga, Tahiti, Fiji, Guam, Belau (Palau), and the other Pacific Islands. The lowlands here have been highly disturbed and are now entirely dominated by "alien" weedy species. This guide book includes color photos of 170 of the most common of these lowland species, with descriptions and other pertinent information. Most of the plants covered are widespread species that may be found in any part of the tropics, so this book is useful throughout the tropical Pacific and beyond."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

There is a growing appreciation of traditional medical systems as a source of considerable knowledge of the medicinal properties of plants. Traditional medicines have the potential to offer leads to identifying potentially valuable chemicals that can be developed into new and more effective drugs, including safer contraceptives. The Pacific region is an excellent arena in which to search for such chemicals as: the area contains plant species not found elsewhere; there is every indication that many of the plants used more generally in traditional Pacific medicine may be efficacious – of 74 plants surveyed in one study 86% showed pharmacological activity; and in many Pacific traditions, knowledge of medicinal use is transmitted between generations as part of an inherited body of ethnomedical knowledge. This book documents all the available information on plants that have been used traditionally for anti-fertility and fertility purposes in the Pacific region, and indicates which of these plants hold the most promise for providing new anti-fertility agents. It also records instances in which the plant has been used outside the region.

Travelers will find the best of the South Pacific in this guidebook that provides in-depth coverage of outdoor recreation. Complete with helpful maps, photographs and illustrations, as well as useful advice on food, entertainment, and money, this guidebook offers the tools travelers need for a uniquely personal experience.

Provides historical and travel information for visitors to Polynesia and Melanesia, including Cook Islands, Samoa, Fiji Islands, New Caledonia, and Solomon Islands

This comprehensive compilation presents the available reports on the medicinal use of Fijian plants in an attractive and readable form using 'everyday' terms as much as possible. The book covers the origin and dispersal of plants, literature, use of medicinal plants within traditional Fijian culture, diseases of Fiji, and medicinal chemicals from plants. Four hundred and fifty plant species are described.The entries for species are arranged by plant family, and give current botanical name, Fijian or local name, brief botanical notes, medicinal uses and chemistry. Separate indexes to plant species and Fijian names are provided, as well as a glossary of medicinal and botanical terms.This book may point the way to plants from which new and effective cures might be obtained.

"This book is for the person who lives in the tropics or subtropics and is interested in native plants, who wants to know about plants that are useful, who loves to watch plants grow, and who is willing to work with them. Such a person might ask questions like, Where will they grow? How do I grow them? Are they good to eat? How are they used? What are their names? These questions and more are answered here."--Préface