karuka

Source language unclear: any clues?

P. jiulianetti and P. brosimos are ancient New Guinea domesticates, management by humans very possibly predating more conventional forms of cultivation. See Sillitoe (1983: 103-111).

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Noun forms

  1. Tree crops and fruits: the nut pandanus, or ‘Screw Pine’, Pandanus jiulianetti and Pandanus brosimos, typically growing in high altitude bush, and with between only two (Upper Watut, Morobe) and as many as 45 (Wola, SHP) locally distinguished variants. ® aran, arang, marita

Noun combination forms

  1. Tree crops and fruits: wel karuka ‘wild’ variants of the nut pandanus; in some areas, people are very definite about the distinction between this, possibly P. brosimos, and cultivated types, but in others, not. Botanically, the distinction is uncertain.

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