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The information and photos on this page are from the published files of Scot. C. Nelson, Ph.D., Associate Specialist (Plant Pathology) University of Hawaii at Manoa.
The University’s educational website about noni (Morinda citrifolia) is provided by the University of Hawaii at Manoa, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources.
Noni's Natural Habitats in Hawaii
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Noni (Morinda citrifolia) is believed to be among the original “canoe plants” that Hawaii’s Polynesian colonizers brought with them in their voyaging canoes. The voyagers valued the plant for its medicine and dyes.
Since the early days of the colonizers noni has become naturalized on all the main Hawaiian islands. It grows naturally where it is relatively wet to moderately wet, from sea level to about 1500 feet elevation. It can be found near the coast, in open lowlands and grasslands, in gulches, as an early colonizing plant specie in recent lava flows, in disturbed forests of the dryer areas, such as the lowland forests in which hala (Pandanus odoratissimus) and kukui nut (Aleurites moluccana) trees grow. It tolerates salinity and thrives within solution pits, or inland tide pools in which brackish water (ocean water mixed with fresh water) is found.
Photographs: S. C. Nelson |
1. Lava flows
Noni is one of the first dicotyledenous plants to colonize low-elevation lava flows on the Big Island. |
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Above, young noni plants are growing from cracks in the 1980’s-era lava flow near Kalapana in the Puna district of the Big Island. The lava flow hardened into a basaltic sheet several or more feet think at this location. LEFT: windswept noni plant bearing ripe fruit. The Pacific Ocean is on the horizon. RIGHT: Young plant emerging from a crack in the lava field (close up of stem shown below). The edge of the lava flow is visible in the far background, near the top edge of the photograph.
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This is a close-up of the stem of a Morinda citrifolia plant emerging from a crack in the lava. Noni seeds were presumably dropped into the cracks by birds, rodents or humans. Ancient Hawaiians seeded lava cracks with various kinds of drought-resistant plants or crops such as noni and coconut. Noni may also become established in cracks within asphalt or cement.
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Noni, ferns and grasses are some of the first plant species in Hawaii to colonize lava flows. This plant was found growing in a lava field near Kailua-Kona, on the island of Hawaii. |
Wild noni plant found growing in a lava field near Kailua-Kona, on the Big Island of Hawaii. The lava flow at this location is probably several meters thick or more. Rainfall at this location is minimal, probably less than 10 inches per year.
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Roadside noni in lava, Chain of Craters Road (Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, island of Hawaii) |
Noni in cracked lava, Chain of Craters Road (Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, island of Hawaii)
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Noni growing in hardened lava flow, Chain of Craters Road (Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, island of Hawaii)
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Noni can grow and thrive under conditions in which few other plants can survive. |
Fresh lava flow at Chain of Craters Road in November 2004 (Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, island of Hawaii) |
Fresh lava flow at Chain of Craters Road in November 2004 (Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, island of Hawaii) |
Noni is a common lowland roadside plant in Hawaii, often occurring along the highways that cut through lava fields. This large plant is near the Kailua-Kona airport on the Big Island of Hawaii. The Pacific Ocean and a lava field, looking west, is visible in the background. |
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2. Tide pools |
A Morinda citrifolia plant is growing within the brackish water of an inland tide pool near sea level in the Opihikao area of the Big Island of Hawaii. Noni plants are extremely salt tolerant. The salty, brackish water level at this location rises and subsides each day, according to the tides, filling up or emptying the tide pools. |
A mature noni plant (Morinda citrifolia) is growing in an inland, brackish tide pool on the Big Island of Hawaii. The tide pool is approximately 500 meters from shoreline. The brackish water rises up from beneath the ground every day at high tide. As the rising tide mixes with the fresh groundwater, a brackish mixture is created. In addition, this water is heated from the active lava beneath the surface. The Hawaiians would come to this location to soak in the warm, brackish water that was filled with fallen noni fruits. Apparently, there was some medicinal benefit realized from this practice.
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Noni plants growing in and around a beautiful inland tide pool in the Puna district of the Big Island of Hawaii. The water is very brackish. |
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3. Forests |
Noni trees are forest understory plants in disturbed and native forests near the coastlines of Hawaii. Here, a good-sized noni plant (right) is dwarfed by a kukui nut tree (center). Hala plants (pandanus) are visible in the background. |
Noni (background) and hala plants (foreground) are common companions in Hawaii’s coastline forests. |
This old noni plant is growing within the foundations of an ancient Hawaiian homestead. The stem diameter is approximately 12 inches. The rocks in this photograph once formed the walls of a Hawaiian house, which stood in a community of houses near the coastline of the lower Puna district on the Big Island of Hawaii. |
4. Gulches |
| Noni is a common river or stream gulch plant along the Hamakua coast of the island of Hawaii, and along gulches of all the main Hawaiian islands. |
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