Jean Mason: Tree of mystery, wonder and ghost

[rashore]

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The ‘utu tree (Fish Poison Tree; Box Fruit; French Bonnet; Barringtonia asiatica) is native not only to Rarotonga and the Society Islands but also to Madagascar, which mitochondrial DNA tells us became a western outpost in the Indian Ocean of the great Polynesian migration which primarily traversed the Pacific. 

This suggests the Polynesians may have taken the seed with them from Asia.  

The most useful parts of the tree were its fruit and wood.  Although generally considered inferior to other timber its wood was used in canoe parts, from which we get ’utu mua and ’utu muri – the stern and bow covers.

http://www.cookislandsnews.com/national/environment/item/77311-jean-mason-tree-of-mystery-wonder-and-ghosts