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Kava varieties of Tahiti

Poivrier

methystified
Here is an interesting link I have found, a tahitian blog with pictures of different ava varieties (in Tahiti kava is called ava, like awa in Hawaii).
I think that it would be very interesting for our hawaiian members to see their awa's ancestors (as it is speculated) ! :bookworm:

The blog is in french but the detailed pictures don't require translations :p
An interesting point is at the begining a comparison between the drinking kava varieties and the medicinal varieties wich looks like Piper wichmanii (flowers and leaves), so it seems that Piper wichmanii did travel from island to island too and was used medicinaly. ::kavaleaf::

Three drinking ava varieties: avini 'ute (reddish stems), avini tea (green with few spots) and taramaete (looks like the hawaiian nene with many spots).
There are of course many other varieties (as one can read in books) but the blog doesn't speak about any other.

I am not sure if it is ok to post the pictures here without authorisation so I just give the link:

http://tehivarereata.over-blog.com/article-34993904.html

The pictures of the harvested roots are of avini'ute, I am surprised ny the reddish color of the roots, is that common on other kavas ?

The last picture shows some heavy damage done by some kind of rats, surprisingly it seems to happen only in July...o_O
 

sɥɐʞɐs

Avg. Dosage: 8 Tbsp. (58g)
Review Maestro
I've heard of Avini 'ute being a Tahitian favorite, with some kind of supposed aphrodisiac effect. :shy:
Too bad no one sells it...::ricky::
 

Shantu

Kava Curious
Looks like I just translated it from french to english. Quality not ensured and apologies to anyone if I butchered english and I didn't understand the first sentence very much. Was a fun exercise though, I'm not much of a french speaker. :)


2 classes of kava

Among the mix of different kava varieties we will take our first step at the roots, having about a dozen varieties that I divide in 2 classes:

1, The avaira'i
2, The ava


The two leafes on the left (taramaete, avini ute) are from the class ava,
while those on the right (orava and avaira'i) are from avaira'i.

Avaira'i kavas can be distinguished by their shiny and less pointy leaves and by the clusters of flowers being on the same side as the leaf:


In this class we can find at least 3 varieties: the avara'i with a green/gray stem, the orava which has a dark violet stem and one that looks like the crossing of the two with slightly pink branches. I found that this last one sometimes generates seeds.

According to the information I can recall, avaira'i kava was only used for medicinal purposes, not for drinking.

Kavas from the ava class have leaves with a matte surface that ends in a sharper tip than those of avaira'i. Unlike avaira'i, the the flowers of ava are single and sit opposite to the leaf:


In both classes we can find varieties ranging from green to various shades of purple.
Popular varieties for preparing the "sacred drink" therefore fall into the class ava with matte leaves and single flowers. The best known ones are the avini 'ute (reddish), the taramaete (green stem with dark green spots) and the avini tea....

avini ute

avini tea

taramaete (also called ava puhi because of it's mottled appearance)

The roots of avini ute are ready to be crushed and consumed

Note: each year in July rodents attack kava stems, preferring the popular varieties. Why is their preference and why in July?

Nice read!

[EDITED BY @HeadHodge, Copied to new thread and added to The Kavapedia under Botany]
 
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Steve Mariotti

Kavapithecus Krunkarensis
Review Maestro
Punk rock dood! They had a big hit in '77 called "Anarchy in New Zealand" from their album Never Mind The Makas
Instead of doing heroin and pushing safety pins through their skin before a show, the Asexual Pistils paint miniatures and listen to smooth jazz.
 
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