page_title: Domesticated plants and animals of Austronesia
section_title: Syzygium malaccense (mountain apple)
hierarchical_section_title: Domesticated plants and animals of Austronesia / Plants / Syzygium / Syzygium malaccense (mountain apple)
caption_attribution_description: English: Syzygium malaccense (fruit). Location: Maui, Hana Hwy
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: The mountain apple (Syzygium malaccense) along with the closely related species like the water apple (Syzygium aqueum) and the Java apple (Syzygium samarangense), are native throughout Island Southeast Asia and were cultivated since prehistory. They were all carried by Austronesians into the Pacific and planted deliberately.
  They were valued primarily for their abundant edible fruits. It is also used for timber (usually for building houses) and parts of the trees are used in traditional medicine. The attractive flowers are also worn as personal hair adornments and in making leis. They were primarily propagated through cuttings by Melanesians and Polynesians. The groves of mountain apples found in the Pacific are often remnants of ancient plantings, as the seeds of the fruits are too large to be dispersed by the native birds. Related species endemic to the Pacific Islands were also utilized similarly, like Syzygium corynocarpum and Syzygium neurocalyx.
  There numerous names for mountain apples in Austronesian languages. In the Philippines, the terms can be reconstructed to Proto-Philippine *makúpa, with cognates including Ilocano, Aklanon, and Cebuano makúpa; and Tagalog and Bikol makópa.
  In Oceania, there are several cognate sets reconstructible for mountain apples and related species. Four of which are *pokaq, *marisapa, *sakau and *cay, with limited reflexes and may have originally referred to other species. The most widespread cognate set, however, can be reconstructed to Proto-Oceanic *kapika. Its cognates include Mussau kaviu; Seimat ahi, Lou keik; Maenge and Nakanai gaiva; Tami kapig; Yabem àing; Motu gavika; Bola kavika; Babatana kapika; Gela gaviga; Kwara'ae ʻafiʻo; Paamese ahie; Wayan, Niue, East Uvean, and Bauan kavika; Tongan fekika; Anutan kapika; Marquesan kehika; Mangarevan keʻika; Tahitian ʻahiʻa; Hawaiian ʻoohiaʻai; Rarotongan kaʻika; and Māori kahika. In Māori, the names have shifted to Metrosideros fulgens, which have similar-looking flowers, as Malay apples did not survive into Aotearoa.
caption: Mountain apples in Maui
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