542 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1961 



argue for American origins, but unfortunately, his claims are almost 

 all without foundation. ... I note so many extraordinary conclusions 

 in his Flora of S.E. Polynesia that I think it is regrettable that no 

 critical review of his work has ever appeared" (p. 250). Merrill 

 points out that almost certainly Garica 'papaya was not establislied in 

 Polynesia previous to the arrival of the Europeans. 



"VVliat is said of the papaya here is also true of the pineapple. 

 Again Heyerdahl cites F. B. H. Brown (1935) in claiming the occur- 

 rence of Ananas comosus (L.) Merr. in Polynesia before the arrival 

 of the European navigators. These navigators, however, thoroughly 

 recorded which plants they imported into the islands visited. And 

 according to Merrill (1954), the earliest Polynesian record indicates 

 that Captain Cook planted pineapple seeds in Tahiti in 1769. If 

 Quiros, who sailed in 1595 from Peru to Polynesia, introduced either 

 pineapples or papayas into the Marquesas Islands, he did not record 

 this fact and we do not possess any statement of their occurrence there. 



Furthermore, Heyerdahl published a list of American plants, for 

 the greater part weeds, which according to him occurred in early times 

 in Hawaii. This list is borrowed from G. F. Carter, whose publica- 

 tion (1950) is called by Merrill (1954, p. 252) an "extraordinary 

 paper," which he further states contains many gross and inexcusable 

 errors. Carter's list indeed is a strange one. It contains species 

 related only to American species and even a number which are not 

 American at all but of European origin. Heyerdahl, not professing 

 to be a botanist, here uncritically accepts botanical assertions from a 

 paper written by one who also is not a professional botanist, since 

 they support his theory. 



Finally I wish to mention two species of plants which also are 

 highly valued by Heyerdahl. The first of these is a species of the 

 well-known genus Argemone, of which the best-known species, A. 

 mexicana L., was introduced long ago from its native region, Mexico, 

 into other tropical countries and also into Europe, especially as an 

 ornamental. The species of this genus all occur in America except one, 

 Argemone glauca (Nutt. ex Pram) Degener, which is endemic in 

 Hawaii and which was collected there as early as the second voyage 

 of Captam Cook in 1779. Heyerdahl refers to works by Fedde and 

 Prain, who stated that A. glauca is only a variety of the North 

 American A. alba Lestib., and who considered its proper name to be 

 A. alba var. glauca Nutt. ex Prain. In Fedde's opinion, the plant is 

 probably a hybrid of A. alba and A. mexicana. Since Heyerdahl holds 

 the view that seeds of Argem,one cannot cross the ocean without human 

 help, he concurs with Carter's opinion (1950) that the natives intro- 

 duced this plant into Polynesia because of its medicinal properties, 

 together with the sweet potato and the tetraploid cotton. Merrill 



