2018 March 16 SPDS

Background: Kava

Kava History

▪ Distribution of the plant is limited to the Pacific Islands ▪ Its use predates local written languages (2,000-3,000 yrs est.) ▪ Its ritual use, central to many local cultures, was recorded by Dutch explorers in 1616 and Cook’s first voyage in 1769. ▪ Its cultivation, use, and traditional ceremony are interwoven. ▪ All cultivars are sterile and related to the wild P. wichmannii . ▪ Wide variety of cultivar phenotype (color and shape appearance). ▪ ~ 120-150 known and named cultivars that are propagated based on subjective evaluation of pharmacological effects.