Kava
![](/Images/godic/202502/21/Starr_070515-7054_Piper_methysticum4439.jpg")
![A painting showing women preparing kava](/Images/godic/202502/21/John_LaFarge_-_Young_Girls_Preparing_Kava_Outside_of_the_Hut_Whose_Posts_Are_Decorated_wih_Flowers4439.jpg")
![](/Images/godic/202502/21/Kavalactone_General_Structure4439.PNG")
![Kava root drying in Lovoni village, Ovalau, Fiji](/Images/godic/202502/21/Kava_fiji4439.jpg")
Kava or kava-kava (Piper methysticum: Latin "pepper" + Latinized Greek "intoxicating") is a crop of the western Pacific.
The name kava(-kava) is from Tongan and Marquesan; other names for kava include ʻawa (Hawaiʻi), ava (Samoa), yaqona (Fiji), sakau (Pohnpei), and malok or malogu (parts of Vanuatu).