Description: Endemic to Pohnpei Island, Claoxylon carolinianum is a relatively small understory tree up to about 10 m (~30 ft) tall. C. carolinianum generally develops a roundish crown, and its mostly whitish to greenish flowers are small, rather inconspicuous; they are borne on spikes emerging from the axils of the leaves. The oblong-elliptical leaves are about 8-16 cm (~3-6 in) long with slightly serrated margins.

Distribution: The genus Claoxylon was first described in 1824 and is now known to be found in paleotropical areas from Madagascar to South Asia, Southeast Asia, Malesia, Melanesia and other parts of the tropical Pacific. There are reportedly somewhere between 80 and 100 species of Claoxylon that are dioecious subshrubs to small trees. C. carolinianum is a tree species known solely from Pohnpei and is reportedly one of three endemic species in Micronesia; the other two Claoxylon species, according the Costion and Lorence (2012:77), are C. longiracemosum, endemic to Palau, and C. marianum, endemic to the southern Mariana Islands (C. marianum is described and discussed below).

Uses by Island or Island Group: Claoxylon carolinianum is a species in Euphorbiaceae, the Spurge Family which is characterized by producing milky latex that often contains a large variety of phytotoxins (toxic substances produced by plants); these potentially harmful substances include diterpene esters, alkaloids, glycosides, and ricin-type toxins. However, a number of Euphorbiaceae species, including C. carolinianum, also have medicinal asociations.

Distribution and Uses on Pohnpei: Many decades ago, Kanehira (1931:289; 1935:348) identified the Pohnpei endemic Claoxylon species as C. longifolium (BL.) MIQ., and reported that it was a “medium-sized tree,” with poisonous latex; Kanehira indicated that it was common in the Pohnpei “forests from low to medium altitudes” and listed its native Pohnpeian name as “koy” or “kôee.” This unique Pohnpeian woody species is now recognized as Claoxylon carolinianum. Some sample notes from herbarium sheets deposited in various herbaria, such as those referred to below from the U.S. National Herbarium in Wash. D.C., provide additional evidence of the distributional range and local names of C. carolinianum on Pohnpei Island. For example, S. F. Glassman collected C. carolinianum (specimen #2473) near “Mt. Poaipoai,” at 500 ft. on “July 8-9, 1949,” and referred to the local Pohnpeian name of this “30 ft.” tall tree with “flowers white” as “Kohyaet” [see Herbarium Sheet 2158453 Barcode 00964999]; Glassman also collected a 20 ft tall tree of this species (specimen #2751) near Mt. Seletereh, Pohnpei at 1500 ft. on July 28, 1949, but listed its local name here as ”Koyaet” [US National Herbarium Sheet 2158319 Barcode 00964998]. Claoxylon carolinianum, an understory tree endemic to Pohnpei is believed to have special attributes and supernatural properties on that island. For example, it has been used magically to strengthen machetes and knives by putting these cutting tools into cut stems of C. carolinianum trees. Parts of this small tree (cut pieces of the branches and stems) are also applied to fishing nets to make them more efficient. Balick et al. (2009:372) listed local Pohnpeian names (different spellings?) for C. carolinianum as Koahi, Koaiei or Koaie, and referred to a number of medicinal uses of C. carolinianum on Pohnpei:

“To treat katieni (a form of ghost sickness) …To treat soumwahu en naniak (mangrove sickness) …To use as a wini en kamwakel (a plant to cleanse the body) - for example after drinking too much sakau (Piper methysticum [kava]) or for a bad stomach…To treat headache…To treat headache associated with dizziness (vertigo), eight leaves are mashed and placed in a pot, after which hot rocks are added in to ‘stem’ the leaves. The person puts his or her head over the pot and under a sheet and inhales the steam for a few minutes and then breathes air outside the steam treatment for a few minutes; this is continued for one hour (umwulap treatment); the headache should be gone by then…To treat a skin virus (possibly caused by the Molluscum contagiosum virus), the juice from the pounded, squeezed leaves is rubbed on the skin…. To reduce high fever, as many leaves as needed are pounded, wrapped in a piece of cloth, and squeezed into a basin of water, which is then used to bathe the body. This treatment is repeated daily until better…. Alternatively, to treat fever, as many leaves as needed are pounded, wrapped in a piece of cloth, squeezed in a basin of water, and used to bathe the body. This treatment is repeated daily until better….”