Plant · P-937

Kava

Piper methysticum

Kava is a Pacific island shrub grown for its thick woody underground stump and roots, pounded into a traditional drink that calms without dulling the mind, relaxes muscles and eases pain. It produces no viable seed, so every plant in cultivation is a cutting descended from another, a habit that carried it from Melanesia across Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu and Hawaii. It needs humid tropical warmth, steady year-round rain and rich well-drained soil, and takes three to four years before the roots build up the compounds that give the drink its effect. Only the pale underground stump and roots go into the beverage - the green stems and leaves never do, and heavy regular use has been linked to liver injury.