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 Colubrina asiatica is a littoral shrub, which may take the form of a weatherbeaten scrambler like the one picutred in the gallery below, or a shrub several metres high partly supported by the adjacent vegetation it has climbed into, like that illustrated on the left. It is widely distributed naturally from East Africa and Madagascar to South and Southeast Asia, Southern China, Queensland, New Guinea, Soloman Islands and Vanuatu to tropical Polynesia. The seeds of this plant are very easily dispersed by flotation, which no doubt accounts for its being indigenous to a band of countries stretching from Mozambique to Hawai'i. This natural dispersal is a process still in progress: W.R. Sykes (Flora of the Cook Islands, p. 796) notes that "A single plant recently [2016] appeared spontaneously in a garden in Omoka Village, Penrhyn, but otherwise the species is unknown in the Northern Cooks." Its New Zealand namesake, Coriaria arborea, has a similar habit of growth and arrangement of its leaves, but a very different inflorescence (as illustrated in the photographs in the gallery above).
The thin, glossy oval leaves alternate along the stems. They are 5 to 10 cm long, with petioles measuring 8 to 35 mm. Clusters of tiny flowers are born and the axils of the leaves, followed by small brown capsules. Throughout the Pacific, the leaves, which are rich in saponins, have been used for producing soap. In Samoa, where the plant is known as fīso, the leaves were used to aid in the bleaching of a heavy ceremonial skirt, the 'ie sina, which apparently is no longer produced.
The tree is generally found close to the sea, and thrives in sandy, stony and dry environments. In the Marquesas it is found in dry forests and shrub lands up to about 390 m above sea level, but in Samoa and the Cook Islands it is generally much closer to the coast.
In the Cook Islands the flexible stems, which may be up to 6m long, have been used to attach goatskin membranes to larger drums, and for constructing fish traps. In Samoa the mature stems were the main timber used for bows for hunting birds and fish. They also provided one of the timbers used for making house ribs.
The plant has also had medicinal uses in various places. For example, in Samoa an infusion of the leaves was occasionally used as a remedy for postpartum sickness.
Two closely related plants, C. oppositifolia and Alphitonia ponderosa, both known as kauila, were very important hardwoods in Hawai'i. Wagner et al. note that they "took the place of metals in the economy of the ancient Hawaiians" (Manual. p.1093). Isabella Abbott (Le'o Hawai'i) documents their use for making 'ō'ō (digging sticks), ceremonial poles, a variety of weapons and in building. C. asiatica was much less important although the leaves were commonly used for soap. Its alternative names in Hawai'i are 'ānapanapa, kauila kukuku, and kolokolo.
Interestingly, Pukui and Elbert (Dictionary, p. 24) note that "The plant is mistakenly reported to be poisonous." This is in sharp contrast to its lexical counterpart in Aotearoa, which holds the gold medal for poisonous attributes in the New Zealand flora. However, according to the entry in Ken Fern's Useful Tropical Plants database, Colubrina asiatica can apparently become an invasive pest, overwhelming native flora where it gets a toehold in a suitable alien environment.
The New Zealand tutu has a page devoted to it along with the other local species of Coriaria (which share the name tutu), so no more need be said about it here. Likewise the Tongan and East Uvean plant with a similar name, the vine Jasminum didymum, needs only a brief mention as it is dealt with elsewhere under its Northern Cook Island name pirita. This vine, known as 'āketa in Rarotonga, is used to make eel traps and occasionally baskets and trays. It occurs in a variety of environments, from lowland forest to montane scrub. The "tutu" element in its Tongan and East Uvean names is probably not reflected in the Eastern Polynesian word, although the use of both the jasmine and Colubrina stems for cordage is a common factor; however no Polynesian language uses the same word for both plants, despite the overlapping uses and identical geographical distribution.
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