ABSTRACT
Kava is a shrub, generally approximately 2 m (6½ ft.) tall, but in favorable circumstances it grows as high as 6 m (20 ft.). There are separate male and female plants, but the females tend to be sterile (unable to produce seeds), and as male plants are common, the species is usually propagated vegetatively. The stems are green to black, succulent, with strongly swollen nodes reminiscent of bamboo stems. The leaves are heart shaped, 15 to 28 cm (6-11 in.) long, and when held up to light appear dotted because of the presence of oil-containing glands. The species is thought to have originated in Melanesia and is common in Polynesia. Kava is believed to have been cultivated on islands in the South Pacic for more than 3000 years. A drink made from the kava plant was the beverage of choice for the royal families of the South Pacic, and indeed kava has been called “the South Pacic’s most revered herb.” The rst Europeans to observe the plant and its ritualistic consumption by natives of Oceania were Dutch explorers Jacob Le Maire and William Schouten in 1616. It was noted that indigenous people chewed or pounded the rhizome (underground stem, usually called a “root”) and mixed it with water to produce a brownish, often bitter brew, which they then consumed for its psychoactive properties. Kava’s active chemicals are called kavalactones and are concentrated in the “roots.” The drink is still consumed in Western Polynesia, especially in Samoa, Tonga, and most of Melanesia including Fiji, although missionaries reduced its use considerably. Kava was also traditionally used as a medicine for various ailments, and has been used as a sedative and aphrodisiac.
