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Title: Plants in Hawaiian Medicine by Beatrice H. Krauss, Martha Noyes ISBN: 1-57306-034-8 Publisher: Bess Press Pub. Date: 01 January, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.95

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Average Customer Rating: 4 (1 review)

Rating: 4
Summary: Healing Plants
Comment: Beatrice Krauss was a beloved ethnobotanist who spent a great deal of her lifetime studying Hawaiian plants and their uses; she was the first woman to earn a degree in agriculture from the University of Hawai`i. Her book is very well done and nicely illustrated with B&W line drawings by Martha Noyes (an award-winning writer and artist). Each of the 30 plants covered here has its own chapter with a nicely consistent set of information for each one. Included for each plant are: notes on the plant family, ecosystem and the history of its arrival in Hawai`i; a physical description and drawing; general (non-medicinal) uses; ancient uses and contemporary uses. Krauss cautions that her book is not to be used as a manual for medical practice!

One thing that you begin to notice right away in Krauss' book is that plants that we think of predominantly in terms of food or crafts actually had medicinal uses (like hala, taro, ti, sugar cane, koa, guava, kukui, seaweed, banana, mountain apple and sweet potato). Other interesting tidbits emerge as you read about each plant. For example, the word pupu (commonly used for "hors d`oeuvre" here) originally referred to a piece of banana that was eaten while drinking `awa (which is a tad unpalatable until you get used to it). Coral cuts are notorious for becoming infected. The next time you get a coral cut while snorkeling, snag a length of floating limu (seaweed), chew it and put it on the wound! The current fad of pushing noni as a cure for everything has little basis in historical Hawai`i - the plant's primary use was as a dye for tapa cloth. So.... you say you want to know how the Hawaiians used the sweet potato medicinally? How about for inducing vomiting, treating asthma, clearing up chest congestion, curing insomnia and increasing a nursing mother's milk supply - not too bad for a common food! This book is a fun, quick read and good to have on hand for reference.