page_title: Domesticated plants and animals of Austronesia
section_title: Calophyllum inophyllum (mastwood)
hierarchical_section_title: Domesticated plants and animals of Austronesia / Plants / Calophyllum inophyllum (mastwood)
caption_attribution_description: English: Calophyllum inophyllum (habit view black sand beach). Location: Maui, Waianapanapa
context_page_description: One of the major human migration events was the maritime settlement of the islands of the Indo-Pacific by the Austronesian peoples, believed to have started from at least 5,500 to 4,000 BP. These migrations were accompanied by a set of domesticated, semi-domesticated, and commensal plants and animals transported via outrigger ships and catamarans that enabled early Austronesians to thrive in the islands of Maritime Southeast Asia, Near Oceania, and Remote Oceania, Madagascar, and the Comoros Islands.
  They include crops and animals believed to have originated from the Hemudu and Majiabang cultures in the hypothetical pre-Austronesian homelands in mainland China, as well as other plants and animals believed to have been first domesticated from within Taiwan, Island Southeast Asia, and New Guinea. Some of these plants are sometimes also known as "canoe plants", especially in the context of the Polynesian migrations. Domesticated animals and plants introduced during historic times are not included.
context_section_description: Mastwood (Calophyllum inophyllum) is a widespread timber tree native to tropical Asia. It is notable for its ability to grow to massive sizes in sandy or rocky beaches of island and coastal habitats, as well as its habit of sending out arching large trunks over the water where its seeds are dispersed via the currents.  Due to these characters, mastwood are of particular importance to traditional shipbuilding of the larger Austronesian outrigger ships and were carried with them as they migrated to Oceania and Madagascar.
  Other species of the genus Calophyllum were also used similarly, like Calophyllum soulattri, Calophyllum peekelii, and Calophyllum goniocarpum. The wood grain of the members of the genus are characteristically interlocked, which make them harder to work with but also makes them stronger as well as being more suitable for carving intricate shapes. They were comparable in importance to how oaks were in European shipbuilding and timber industries. In many parts of Polynesia, mastwood groves planted in marae were considered sacred and abodes of spirits. Mastwood were also carved into religious objects like tiki. They are also commonly mentioned in the chants and folklore of Polynesia.
  Various parts of the mastwood were integral to the manufacture of outrigger canoes. The large curving limbs were commonly carved into the dugout canoes that formed the keel of the Austronesian outriggers ships. The strakes, which are attached to the keel by the uniquely Austronesian technique of "sewing" them with a combination of dowels and lashed lugs instead of nails, can also be made from mastwood, but it is more commonly made from other "softer" timber species like Artocarpus. Other pieces became masts, outrigger floats, and outrigger spars. Smaller curving limbs can also be carved into the ribs of the boat.
  Aside from shipbuilding, tamanu oil extracted from the fruit kernels were important in Polynesian culture. The oils, as well as poultices made from leaves and flowers, are also commonly used for traditional medicine. The leaves contain compounds that are poisonous to fish and can be used as fish poison.
  The reconstructed Proto-Austronesian word for mastwood is *bitaquR, with modern cognates including Ilocano bittáug; Ifugao bitául; Bikol, Cebuano, Maranao, Mansaka and Manobo bitáʻog or bitaʻug; Nias bito; Palauan btáʻəs; Wetan witora; and Asilulu hataul. The Western Malayo-Polynesian words for mastwood is derived from the doublet Proto-Austronesian *bintaŋuR, with cognates including Iban, Malay and Toba Batak bintangur or bentangur; Tontemboan wintangor; and Malagasy vintáno. In Proto-Oceanic, the reconstructed word is pitaquR, with cognates including Nauna pitɨ; Loniu pitow; Nali pirow; Seimat hita; Aua piʻaw; Pohnpeian isou; Rotuman hefau; Fijian vetau, Tongan fetaʻu; Niue, Samoan, and Tuvaluan fetau; Nukuoro hedau; and Rennellese hetaʻu. In most of these languages, the name specifically refers to C. inophyllum, although in Ifugao, Maranao, Nias,  Wetan, and Fijian, the name has become more generalized to large timber trees.
  Another set of cognates for C. inophyllum in Proto-Oceanic can be reconstructed as *tamanu. Its difference from *pitaquR is unclear, but given the distinction between the terms in the Mussau reflex, *tamanu probably originally referred to specimens of the tree that grow in island interiors and not on the coastlines. Modern cognates include Mussau, Tongan, Niue, Samoan, and Rarotongan tamanu; Fijian damanu; and Hawaiian kamani.
caption: Mastwood in Waiʻanapanapa, Maui
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