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Fiji Christmas In Bloom

Fiji's Postion in the southern hemisphere means that Christmas falls not in mid-winter, but at the tropical
summer. While Father Christmas, Christmas shopping and gift-giving are by no means absent in the urban centres,
nevertheless for most of the people of Fiji, Cjristmas is primarily a rekigious occasion. The period from just before
Christmas until well into the New Year is also when many urban Fijians make an effort to visit their villages, and there is a mass\
exodus from the towns to inland villages and distant islands, where old acquaintances are renewed, urban children are introduced
to their relations aand to traditionsl village life, and people experience anew the joys of catching land-crabs, yavirau
(communal scare-line fishing), and drinking yaqona(kava) and chatting into the small hours with friends and relatives.

This time of year is charcterised by plenty - breadfruit, plantains, mangoes, pineapples, kavika (Malay apple), dawa (Polynesian plum)
and other fruit abound, as do land-crabs and rock-crabs, mussels and other shellfish, jellyfish, and many other kinds of fish,
partucularly nuqa (rabbitfish) and kinds of goatfish such as ose ki, and cucu which are caught in reed fish-fences set in shallow waters in
many parts of Fiji.

This set of stamps features a number of plants that bloom around Christmas time, and are often used to decorate the vakatunuloa
(temporary structures) that house visitors to the villages, as well as the inside of the village church. So they correspond in a way
to the holly, ivy, and mistletoe of more temperate climes - though even the most impartial observer would have to concede that these tropical
yuletide flowers have the edge in terms of colour!

18c - Fiji Christmas Bush, nuqanuqa (Decaspermum vitiense, Myrtaceae)

The nuqanuqa (also widely known as nuqa, and niqwa in parts of Westen Fiji) is a moderate sized tree found at the edge of the forest,
particularly in dry, rocky places, and also cultivated. It is endemic to Fiji, and as small round pointed leaves which give off a pleasant smell
when crushed,small black berries, and small white fragrant flowers. The nuqanuqa is also medicinal; an infusion of its leaves, with the leaves
of certain other plants, is said to cure diabetes, the bark makes apoultice for piles, and an infusion of its root, with root of vobo (see below),
is said to cure cervical and breast cancer. The Fijian name of this plant, nuqa, has been extended to kinds of rabbitfish (Siganidae) that
are in season when the plant flowers, and the name is also found in the world vakasenuqanuqa, literally 'making the nuqa bloom',
the name of a name traditional ceremony of thanksgiving to celebbrate the safe return of a chief from his or her travels, or
nowadays also the return of a football team or a choir from a competition or tour.

65c - Sinukakala (Quisqualis indica, Combretaceae)

This climbing vine with smooth ovate leaves and long-stalked showy fragrant pink to red flowers is a favourite of suburban gardens and villages
throughout Fiji. It is a native of the Old World tropics as far east as Papua New Guinea, and may have been introduced to Fiji in the late nineteenth
century by the Governor John Bates Thurston, who was a keen horticulturalist, and after whom Fiji's main botanical gardens in Suva are named.
On the other hand, the most widespread

90c - Vobo (Mussaenda raiateensis, Rubiaceae)

The vobo is a small tree of the forestmargins with small yellow flowers, and very conspicuous white leaves that surround the flowers, and are indeed considered by some botanists to be part of the flower itself. It is found in high islands through mcuh of the Pacific, from Vanatu to Tahiti. As its species name suggests, it was first described from the island of Ra'iatea, to the west of Tahiti in Easten Polynesia. It is said to have numerous medicinal uses - the root is said to be effective for fractures and piles, while the bark curves rheumatism. Other Fijian names are bovo (Verata and Koro) and bobo (Western Fiji)

$3.00 Flamboyant Tree, Sekoula (Delonix regia, Caesalpiniaceae)

This is a medium sized spreading tree with very small paired fern- like leaves and long brown sabre-shaped pods, planted in villages and towns throughout Fiji. Apart from being popular as a shade tree, it is noted for its profusion of brilliant orange and red flowers, some with spashehes of yellow or white, whose appearance marks the onset of Christmas season. Unusually for a tropical tree, it is deciduous, shedding some or all of its leaves in the cool season. A native of Madagascar, it was probably introduced to Fiji in the mid-nineteenth century. Other English names heard in Fiji are 'flame tree' and 'poinciana'. The Standard Fijian name, sekoula, translates as ' golden flower', and the name in Rotuma is riopripo or lioplipo

$0.90	$0.18
$3.00	$0.65

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