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The preparation of the ground-up roots of the kava plant (PIPER METHYSTICUM) into an intoxicating drink has been widely practiced at various times throughout the South Pacific from Papua New Guinea to Tahiti and Hawaï. Originally it was thought that the practice was of Polynesian origin as it was first observed by early European explorers in Tahiti. The kava plant (PIPER METHYSTICUM) does not naturally occur throughout the Pacific area and has been introduced into much of the area by the indigenous peoples. Because the plant is sterile or without fruit or seed from which new plants may be grown, the only way new plants can be established is from cuttings from existing plants. Therefore, it has been supposed that if it were not for man's interest in the plant for his own consumption then the plant would die out in a few years. Aside from the botanic interest in the plant its wider use in pharmaceuticals results in 30-40 tonnes of kava roots being sold to Europe for this purpose annually. It is the chemicals called kava lactones found in the roots of the kava plant that produces the intoxicating effect of interest to the Pacific peoples who drink it. These lactones are also sought after by manufacturers of pharmaceuticals. A better understanding of the plant and its origins would not only be further botanic interest but also lead the way to potentially better of strains of kava that could yield more kava lactones for commercial consumption. There are three ways, it is currently supposed, that this sterile plant could have come about. Either it is man-made hybrid of closely related other species of kava that has been propagated by man alone or it is a natural hybrid which man has further propagated by cuttings or lastly, a naturally occuring sterile mutant of a species where the same mutation will happen quite naturally and frequently. If the origins of kava lie in a man made mutant then the ancestors of the hybrid should be evident but no such evidence has come to light so far. Alternatively, if it was a natural sterile hybrid then a "discoverer" for the species would have to have had a good sence of observation, a great presence of mind and a passion for uncertain agronomical experiences. On the other hand if we admit the possibility of it being a continuing and naturally occurring mutant then the plant could come in a straight line from several closely related species without hybridization. In the search for ancestors for the kava plant one (PIPER WICHMANNII) has shown sufficient chemical similarity with MACROPIPER LATIFOLIUM (wild kava) so as to qualify as a possible ancestor of PIPER METHYSTICUM. If PIPER WICHMANNII is an ancestor of kava then the origins of the kava plant PIPER MYTHYSTICUM would seem to be Melanesian because the distribution of PIPER WICHMANNII is mostly Melanesian. (Résumé d'auteur)