Ti

It is a palm-like plant growing up to 4.5 metres (15 feet) tall with an attractive fan-like and spirally arranged cluster of broadly elongated leaves at the tip of the slender trunk. The leaves range from red to green and variegated forms. It is a woody plant with leaves 30–60 centimetres (12–24 inches) (rarely 75 cm or 30 in) long and 5–10 cm (2–4 in) wide at the top of a woody stem. It produces 40–60 cm (16–24 in) long panicles of small scented yellowish to red flowers that mature into red berries.

The roots and young leaves can be cooked and eaten as survival food. The leaves can make a rain cloak. In the Philippines, the roots were used to flavor the traditional intus sugarcane wines of the Lumad people of Mindanao. In Polynesia, the leaves of the green-leafed form are used to wrap food, line earth ovens and fermentation pits of breadfruit, and their rhizomes harvested and processed into a sweet molasses-like pulp eaten like candy or used to produce a honey-like liquid used in various sweet treats. In Hawaii, the roots mixed with water and fermented are also distilled into an alcoholic beverage known as okolehao. The plants are widely used for traditional medicine, and ornamentation throughout Austronesia and New Guinea. The flowers are a traditional treatment for asthma, and their anthocyanin content has been assessed to see if they might be commercial herbal remedy. Ti is a popular ornamental plant, with numerous cultivars available, many of them selected for green or reddish or purple foliage.

Its original native distribution is unknown, but it is believed to be native to the region from Bangladesh, to Mainland Southeast Asia, South China, Taiwan, Maritime Southeast Asia, New Guinea, and Northern Australia. It has the highest morphological diversity in New Guinea and is believed to have been extensively cultivated there. It was carried throughout Oceania by Austronesians, reaching as far as Hawaii, New Zealand, and Easter Island at their furthest extent. In New Zealand, it grew only in the far north and is now extinct there, except on the Kermadec Islands. A particularly important type of ti in eastern Polynesia is a large green-leafed cultivar grown for their enlarged edible rhizomes. Unlike the ti populations in Southeast Asia and Near Oceania, this cultivar is almost entirely sterile in the further islands of eastern Polynesia. It can be propagated only by cuttings from the stalks or the rhizomes. It is speculated that this was the result of deliberate artificial selection, probably because they produce larger and less fibrous rhizomes more suitable for use as food. It was introduced to Europe as a houseplant in 1771.

The species is regarded as one of the most important plants related to the indigenous socio-cultural practices of the Pacific and Island Southeast-Asia. In particular, it was propagated throughout the Austronesian linguistic area by humans, not so much for its food value but mainly for socio-cultural reasons. It is widely regarded as having mystical and spiritual importance in various cultures. It is common planted on grave sites, used in magical and ritual practices, including for healing. It is also used as a decorative attire and ornamentation, and as a boundary markers. It is common for the red and green cultivars to be used differently in rituals. Red ti plants commonly symbolize blood, war, and the ties between the living and the dead; while green ti plants commonly symbolize peace and healing. Their ritual uses in Island Southeast Asia have largely been obscured by the introduction of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity, but they still persist in certain areas or are co-opted for the rituals of the new religions. In Philippine anitism, ti were commonly used by babaylan (female shamans) when conducting mediumship or healing rituals. A common belief in Filipino cultures is that the plant has the innate ability to host spirits. …