If God created woman…Ta'aroa created plants, according to the mythology Polynesian. The feathers of Ta'aroa, the creator god, falling to the earth produced greenery. Then many new plants arose from the buried bodies of humans:
The Uru (Breadfruit) sprang from a man, the trunk was his body, the branches were his limbs and the leaves his hands, the fruit was his head and inside of it was the tongue (the heart of the fruit).
The Coconut tree springs from the head of man; the hull was the skull, the wad, the hair and the grooves of the hull were the sutures of the skull which meet at the base of the nut; the two small holes were the eyes, the large hole from which the young shoot springs was the mouth. The tears became the water contained in the nut and the brain became the uto, spongy matter which grows inside, absorbs the water and nourishes the young plant. The ribs became the leaves and the blood became the sap of the tree.
The different varieties of Mape (Tahitian Chestnut) were derived from human beings. The fruits came from the kidneys which are also called mape or rata. The sap was the blood and the nose and the nostrils are found in the bizarre contortions of the trunk.
The Hotu (Barringtonia) springs from the human heart, the fruit has the shape of a heart.
The Aito (Ironwood) (Aito means warrior) were spawned from the bodies of warriors. The blood became the sap and their hair the leaves.
Nono originates from earwax. With the bark of the tree we obtain a brilliant yellow dye.
The Sugar Cane and the Kava came out of the spine which explains their jointed stems.
The Ape was born out of man; the stem of the plant was the hip, and the leaves sprang from the peritoneum.
The Ufi (uhi) or multiple varieties of yam originated in the legs of human beings.
The Taro (Colocasia) was generated by the feet of man and his lungs became the leaves.
Nahe and para ferns originated in the human liver. We also find its form in the roots of these plants.
The Auti (Cordyline) comes from the hip and tibia bones. Its wood was once used by the Tahitians to join broken shins.
The Aute (Hibiscus) had its origin in ruddy faces.
In the Banana tree we find the trachea in the stem at the end of which are the flowers.
Human skin is found in the bark of trees, the chapped skin becomes the cracked bark and the inner skin becomes the soft bark underneath. The Cycopercaceae which grow on rotten wood have their origin in human ears. The silky lather that clings to the stones comes from the tiny hairs that grow in the pores of the skin. .
