Editing Breadfruit (section)

== In culture ==

On [[Puluwat]] in the [[Caroline Islands]], in the context of sacred ''yitang'' lore, breadfruit (''poi'') is a figure of speech for knowledge. This lore is organized into five categories: war, magic, meetings, navigation, and ''breadfruit''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document/Volume_80_1971/Volume_80%2C_No._2/The_Poi_of_the_meeting%2C_by_Saul_H._Riesenberg%2C_p_217_-_227/p1?page=0&action=searchresult&target=|title=The Poi of the Meeting|publisher=Journal of the Polynesian Society, Auckland University|year=1971|first1=Saul H.|last1=Riesenberg |first2=Samuel H. |last2=Elbert|quote= Breadfruit is used here as a figure of speech for knowledge. And the breadfruit of knowledge is contained in all five bowls, even though the names of only three of them include the word for pounded breadfruit, and even though only the last contains knowledge about breadfruit in that word's literal meaning.}}</ref>

According to an [[etiological]] [[Hawaiian mythology|Hawaiian myth]], the breadfruit originated from the sacrifice of the war god [[Kū]]. After deciding to live secretly among mortals as a farmer, Kū married and had children. He and his family lived happily until a famine seized their island. When he could no longer bear to watch his children suffer, Kū told his wife that he could deliver them from starvation, but to do so he would have to leave them. Reluctantly she agreed, and at her word, Kū descended into the ground right where he had stood until only the top of his head was visible. His family waited around the spot he had last been, day and night, watering it with their tears until suddenly, a small green shoot appeared where Kū had stood. Quickly, the shoot grew into a tall and leafy tree that was laden with heavy breadfruits that Kū's family and neighbors gratefully ate, joyfully saved from starvation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mauimagazine.net/breadfruit/|title=Breadfruit|publisher=Maui Nō Ka ʻOi Magazine, Haynes Publishing Group|author=Shannon Wianecki|date=May–June 2013|access-date=17 January 2017}}</ref>

Many breadfruit [[Hybrid (biology)#Plant hybrid|hybrids]] and [[cultivar]]s are widely distributed throughout the Pacific though they are seedless or otherwise biologically incapable of naturally dispersing long distances. It is therefore clear that humans aided distribution of the plant in the Pacific, specifically prehistoric groups who colonized the Pacific Islands. To investigate the patterns of human migration throughout the Pacific, scientists have used molecular dating of breadfruit hybrids and cultivars in concert with anthropological data. Results support the west-to-east migration hypothesis, in which the [[Lapita]] people are thought to have traveled from [[Melanesia]] to numerous [[Polynesia]]n islands.<ref name=zerega/>

The world's largest collection of breadfruit varieties was established by botanist Diane Ragone, from over 20 years' travel to 50 Pacific islands, on a {{convert|10|acre|ha|0|disp=flip|adj=on}} plot outside of [[Hana, Hawaii|Hana]], on the isolated east coast of [[Maui]] ([[Hawaii]]).<ref name="StelleWolfordHanaHou">{{cite web |url= http://www.hanahou.com/pages/Magazine.asp?Action=DrawArticle&ArticleID=801&MagazineID=51 |title= Tree of Plenty |author1=Julia Steele |author2=photos by Jack Wolford |work= [[Hana Hou!]] |volume=12 |issue= 4 |date= August–September 2009 }}</ref>