152 USEFUL PLANTS OF QUAM. 
or feathers of birds. These peculiarities undoubtedly account for the 
wide dissemination of many of the weeds. Many of the marsh birds 
and shore birds visiting Guam are migratory, and it is very probable 
that they have brought with them seeds or fruits from other regions. 
It is pleasant to note the absence of the troublesome sensitive plant 
(Mimosa pudica) and the Lantana camara from the flora of Guam. 
Other shrubby plants of wide distribution occur in Guam, however, 
especially the guava, the two common species of indigo, Leucaena 
glauca, and several American species of Cassia. Nearly all the com- 
posites on the island are introduced weeds, belonging to the genera Ver- 
nonia, Klephantopus, Adenostemma, Ageratum, Eclipta, Glossogyne, 
and Synedrella. 
ANIMAL PESTS. 
The most serious injury to growing crops is caused by the deer, 
which overrun the island. They often destroy whole fields of corn, 
garden patches, and tender young coconut plants, approaching 
villages by night and eating watermelons, squashes, and other succu- 
lent fruits on the vines. Rats oceur in great numbers and attack 
many vegetable products, especially corn and cacao, and flying foxes 
cause considerable damage to certain fruits. Weevils get into the 
gathered corn and rice, which must be kept in earthen jars well closed 
as a protection against them: termites destroy living trees as well 
us dead wood; and tobacco patches are infested with the larve of a 
sphinx moth. Few garden patches are inclosed by hedges or fences, 
so that serious injury is often caused by hogs and cattle running at 
large. Horses and cows are especially fond of the foliage of the 
breadfruit, and will injure young trees if unprotected. Among: the 
staple food plants there are fewer diseases and insect pests than in most 
tropical countries. 
PLANT NAMES. 
CLASSES OF NAMES.—The common names of Guam plants may be 
classified under three heads: First, vernacular names applied to plants 
which grew in the island before the discovery, such as ‘* fai” (rice), 
*“pugua” (betel nut); second, East Indian and American names of plants 
Which have been introduced since the discovery, such as ‘“maigea” 
(mango), ‘kamote” (sweet potato); and a third class including names 
applied by the natives to plants brought to the island either from other 
parts of the Pacific or from more remote regions, as ‘‘baston de San 
Jose” (St. Joseph’s staff), applied to Zetsia terminalis, the * ti,” 
or “ki,” of Polynesia, and ‘tcadena de amor” (chain of love), applied 
to the Mexican Antigonon leptopus on account of its racemes of rose- 
colored heart-like flowers. 
ORIGIN OF PLANTS INDICATED BY THEIR VERNACULAR NAMES. —It is 
aisy to trace the names of most of the plants introduced since the 
