DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 297 
Inifut or Inifuk (Guam). 
Vernacular name of a purplish grass, which sticks to the clothing. 
Inkberry. See Cestrum pallidum. 
Inocarpus edulis. Same as Bocoa edulis. 
Intsia bijuga. Tem. PLate Liv. 
Family Fabaceae. 
Loca NamMes.—Ipil (Philippines); Ifil, fit (Guam); Ifi-lele (Samoa); Vesi 
(Fiji). 
The most important timber tree of Guam. Leaves abruptly pinnate; leaflets 2 
pairs (rarely 1 pair), obliquely oblong, glabrous, inclined to be leathery; flowers in 
a dense terminal corymbose panicle; calyx-tube cylindrical; sepals 4; corolla consist- 
ing of one developed petal, which is exserted and is round in form, with a long claw; 
fertile stamens 3, sterile 7; filaments more than 2.5 cm. long, anthers small; pod 
rigid, flat, oblong, opening with difficulty; seeds 1 to dD. 
The heartwood of this tree is very hard and heavy, but not elastic. It is cross- 
grained and hard to work. It is very durable and is used for the posts of the best 
houses. The pillars of the church of Agama are the trunks of ifil trees cut very near 
the site of the building. At first the wood is yellowish, then it turns rust-color, and 
assumes a dark color with time, resembling that of black walnut. Although of 
rather coarse grain, it takes a very fine polish. Nearly all the better houses of the 
island have tables and settees made of it, and even floors, which are kept beautifully 
polished by rubbing them with grated coconut wrapped ina cloth, through which the 
oil oozes. The wood has the virtue of resisting the attacks of termites or white ants. 
Trunks 9 meters long and 1 meter in diameter are sometimes found, but they usually 
‘vary from 2.5 to5 meters in length and from 30. to 60 cm. in diameter. Houses 
made of newly sawn ifil are not whitewashed or painted until the wood has had 
time to dry and season, on account of the brown coloring matter, which discolors the 
surface, When old the wood becomes so hard that holes must be bored in it for 
nails. The trees are becoming scarce in the vicinity of Agaia, but are still compara- 
tively abundant in the forests of the northern part of the island. 
REFERENCES: 
Intsia bijuga (Colebr.) Kuntze, Rev. Gen. 1: 192. 1891. 
Afzelia bijuga Gray, U. S. Expl. Exped. 1: 467. 1854, not Afzeliam bijuga 
Spreng. 1827. 
Macrolobium bijugum Colebr. Trans. Linn, Soc. 12: 359, 1818. 
Ipecac, wild (Hawaii). See Asclepias curassavicu. 
Ipil (Philippines). See Jntsia byuga. 
Ipomoea batatas. SWEET POTATO. 
Family Convolvulaceae. 
LocaL NaMEs.—Camotie (Mexican); Camote (Spanish); Kamote, Kamute 
(Guam); Kumara (Rarotonga, New Zealand); ’Umala (Samoa and other 
Polynesian groups); Uala (Hawaii); Cumar (Quichuas of Ecuador); Ubi- 
castela (Malayan). 
There are several varieties of sweet potato growing in Guam, differing from one 
another in shape, color, and quality of the root, and in the shape of the leaves. One 
of these was brought to the islands from Hawaii and is still called by the natives 
“kamutes de Guahti”? (Oahu). Some of the earliest navigators mention ‘batatas”’ 
among the supplies received from the natives of Guam, but it is certain that they 
applied this name to the yam. In picturing the privations of the first missionaries 
in establishing themselves in Guam, Padre Francisco Garcia mentions that they were 
obliged to eat certain roots like sweet potatoes, but without the flavor of the Camotes 
of Mexico. Sweet potatoes were introduced, however, at a very early date by the 
