People in the southern Vanuatu islands of Aneityum and Tanna use plants as communication devices, a function which we call ‘message plants’. Certain species of plants are held, worn, or placed in specific locations with the intention of delivering messages with varied semantic content. In the cultural context of southern Vanuatu, message plants serve as an important parallel channel of communication, alongside spoken languages, and in some cases are considered more appropriate or effective means of conveying a message.
