Monuriki Island Nature Fact File

COCONUT PALM (NIU)
COCOS NUCIFERA
·
Originates from SE Asia (drifted by sea/brought by man).
·
·
·
·
·
Nut—food and drink.
Shell—used for cups and making charcoal.
Leaves—used for making baskets, hats, mats, brooms.
Wood—furniture and house building.
Oil– used for cooking, as a fuel, in beauty products.
BEACH MULBERRY/NONI (KURA)
MORINDA CITRIFOLIA
·
·
·
·
Originates from SE Asia (drifted by sea). Tree is from the
coffee family.
Fruit, seeds and leaves and seeds have many medicinal properties. Very high in Vitamin C.
Noni juice is sold commercially as a “Cure all”. Beware
it tastes like vomit!!
Bark used to make a yellow/brown dye used in traditional Fijian tapa cloth making.
FISH POISON TREE(VUTU)
BARRINGTONIA ASIATICA
·
·
·
Originates from SE Asia (drifted by sea).
Flowers come out at night and smell beautiful.
Although now illegal, in olden days seeds were crushed
and placed in tidal pools where they caused suffocation
of fish.
SEA ALMOND TREE(TAVOLA TIVI)
TERMINALIA CATAPPA
·
·
·
·
·
Originates from India (drifted by sea).
Leaves have a medicinal value.
Seeds taste just like almonds and are a popular snack.
Favourite food of the Fruit bat.
Leaves change colour in the seasons, turning red and
yellow before they fall off the tree.
PANDANUS (VADRA)
PANDANUS VITIENSIS (ONLY FOUND IN FIJI)
·
·
·
·
·
Endemic species to Fiji.
This species of pandanus is home to the Fiji Tree Frog.
When the fruit becomes red it is a favourite food of
fruit bats.
White (male) flowers smell beautiful and are used to
scent coconut oil and is said to be an aphrodisiac!
Red/orange seeds of fruit are used in flower garlands
(salusalu’s) for ceremonial occasions.
SCREW PINE PANDANUS (VOI VOI)
PANDANUS TECTORIOUS
·
·
·
·
·
Cultivated variety—grown around villages.
Provides raw material for making ceremonial and everyday mats, baskets, fans etc.
Fruit can be cooked and eaten.
Seeds also can be eaten after roasting.
High in Beta Carotene that helps to prevent Vitamin A
deficiency.
TREE WITH NO NAME(TAGIA)
·
Can you identify this tree for us?
·
·
·
·
Trees common in coastal areas; always by the beach.
Seeds are like peas in a pod; flowers are yellow.
Tagia season is January—December.
In olden days the tagia seeds were eaten on journeys
as a nutritious take-away lunch or breakfast (instead
of having to go home).
ALEXANDRIAN LAUREL(DILO)
CALOPHYLLUM INOPHYLLUM
·
·
·
·
·
·
Originates from India (drifted by sea).
Nut is poisonous to eat but yields dilo oil.
Oil has a unique property to aid in the healing of any
wound or inflammation to the skin.
Oil is found in anti-aging beauty products.
Leaves are used to soothe eye problems.
Wood used for building and traditionally for boat
masts.
HAWKSBILL TURTLE (TAKU)
ERETMOCHELYS INBRICATA
·
·
·
·
·
Endangered species.
No longer allowed to hunt for turtles but in olden days
turtle eggs were considered a delicacy and turtle meat
reserved only for chiefs.
Hawksbill turtles eat sea sponges and jellyfish.
They can live to be 100 years old.
Hawksbill turtles lay their eggs on Monuriki beach
(November – March).
FIJI CRESTED IGUANA (VOKAI)
BRACHYLOPHUS VITIENSIS (ONLY FOUND IN FIJI)
·
·
·
·
They live on only 3 islands in Fiji.
They are nocturnal and spend most of their time high
up on the branches of trees.
Monuriki has been made a land reserve to protect the
Crested Iguana. Their main predator is the goat. It
doesn’t eat the Iguana but eats the same shrubs and
leaves that the Iguana likes to eat.
Steve Irwin was given an Iguana from Monuriki Island
when he and his wife stayed at Tokoriki. This iguana
lives in his zoo.
FRUIT BAT or FLYING FOXES(BEKA)
PTEROPUS TONGANUS & PTEROPUS SAMOENSIS
·
·
·
·
·
They eat fruit and are very important in the distribution of plant seeds in their droppings.
In olden days Fijians used to eat bats!
They roost in caves and rocky outcrops.
They may travel 30-40kms to find fruit trees.
There are 4 species of bats in Fiji and they are the only
native mammal to Fiji.
HERMIT CRAB (GALE)CALCINUS
·
·
They can stay out of the water for months because
they have gills and lungs.
They return to the water to change shells and to release eggs.
GHOST CRAB (KAUKE)OCYPODE
·
They are one of few crustaceans to use sound to call to
females in the breeding season.