Traditional Medicinal Plants of Rarotonga, Cook Islands. Part II

Abstract

The Cook Islands are a group of widely scattered small South Pacific islands and atolls in the centre of the Polynesian triangle. They lie between latitudes 8° and 23° S. The southern Cooks, which include Rarotonga, are high islands of volcanic origin whilst the northern Cooks are low coral atolls. The southern Cooks are almost 2,000 miles northeast of New Zealand and lie between Tonga and Samoa to the west with Tahiti and French Polynesia to the east. The total population of the Cook Islands is around 20,000, of whom about a half live on the island of Rarotonga.