Pictures taken in Lewetik, Nett.
Family: Goodeniaceae
Chuukese: nad, ned
Kosraean: kusrohsr
Mortlockese: ned
Mwoakillese: remek
Pingalapese: remek
Pohnpeian: remek
Yapese: nath, noth, or thoeth
Likiaksa Jr. Benjamin: Leaves are used to treat womb illness, treat menstrual cramps. A bath taken in the leaves can make labor and delivery of a baby easier. The juice from the fruit can be squeezed into the eye to treat pink eye. February 2004.
Description of the plant: Remek is a medium-size tree 3 to 15 meter high. It is often found along the sandy shores but it could be grown inland too. This particular tree in this picture is grown near Ardapang Welles'residence in Nanpohnmal, Sokehs for healing purposes. The fruits are round in shape, green in color when young and turn white and juicy when riped.
1. Fruits-the juice of the ripe fruits is used for curing pink-eyes. The juice from 1 or 2 ripe fruits is squeezed into each eye, 3 times daily until cure.
2. A. Leaves-Juice from 2 to 4 pounded green leaves is squeezed into a cup of water. A dosage of 1 table spoon in the morning, noon and in the evening is used for curing lower abdominal and back aches.
B. The same methods in (A) is used along with massage is used for hastening pregnancy in women, especially for the newly wed.
C. The leaves are used for stopping discomforts after menstruation and also prevention of uterus infection after delivery and miscarriages. The procedures to follow here is same as in (A).
Steaming or vaporizing method can also be applied. In this method, several leaves are crushed into hot water and the woman sits on the vapor or steam, or bathe with the water.
3. Ash or saps from its firewood is very effective in curing warts.
Resouce People: Ardapang Welles, Nora Welles, Makodo Daniel, Beadrige Daniel, Evelyn Joseph, Eswich Poll & Rita Poll
Once upon a time, there lived a couple in Likinreren, the eastern end of Mwandohn in Mokil. They had five sons and five daughters. The sons did not know of their fifth sister because their mother kept that a secret from them because she was delivered in an unusual way. She was delivered through the head and became a white flower in the 'remek'' without having pedals. She named her Raskinnad.
Everyday when the boys would go fishing on the reef, they would look back to the beach and saw their four sisters playing with a fifth one whose beauty was beyond comparison. Everyday when they returned home and asked about what they saw, the sisters and their mother would deny their story. Then one day, they planned to hide and catch what thy often saw. They hid themselves in the woods, while suddenly the four sisters came out to the beach and began playing. Suddenly, a fifth one jumped down from the 'remek' (the flower became a most beautiful girl they have ever seen) and started to play with the others in the shallow water. The five boys jumped out of the woods and grabbed the beautiful girl and started to pull her around. Each of them wanted to have her for a wife. As a result, they tore the girl apart and then the girl disappeared into the remek tree.
Then after a long while, the remek had no flower. But soon another flower grew but it had five pedals. The one that has no pedals can still be found but very rarely. This one is called "Raskinnad". This story of 'Raskinnad' is still told on Mokil today.
Leo Cornelius. Leaves can be pounded and boiled. Drink the liquid to treat stomach ache in athletes. The juice of the fruit can be squeezed into the eye to treat pink eye (conjunctivitus). The leaves are used to treat gonorrhea in men. The leaves can be wilted over a fire and then placed on the breast of a young woman to enlarge her breasts. This is not for reasons of appearance but to enhance the potential milk capacity of the breast. Alternatively the leaf can be steamed and placed across the breasts. February 2004.
Beauter Hainrick: Leaves used to treat women's illness. Flowers used in mwarmwar. Used for headaches. Ornamental in some gardens. February 2004.
Mercy Tman: Yapese recognize two varieties, noth and thoeth. The juice of the fruit is squeezed into the eye to treat pink eye. The leaves are combined with guava leaves to create a bath for women that cleanses them after birth but prior to their first post-birth mentrual period. The stem of the plant can be used to treat stomachache: two drops of juice from the stem treat the stomachace.
Botany • Ethnobotany • Ethnoherbarium • Herbarium • Lee Ling • COMFSM