308 USEFUL PLANTS OF GUAM. 
after the segments of the pod have been detached. Leaves with two or three pairs 
of pinne, sometimes with a single pair, rachis ending in a bifid, spiral tendril, by 
which the plant climbs; pinn with 3 or 4 pairs of leaflets; leaflets obovate-oblong, 
acute at base, rounded, often emarginate at apex, glabrous, paler beneath, with the 
lateral veins conspicuous; flowers sessile, very small, with 5 petals and 10 stamens, 
polygamous (male and bisexual), crowded in long, narrow, pedunculate axillary 
spikes; pod 60 to 90 cm. long, often curved, sometimes twisted, compressed, hard, 
indented on both sutures between the seeds, joints (Pl. XV) 6 to 12, turgid, 1-seeded, 
indehiscent, brown, readily detached from the surrounding tough, woody suture and 
from one another, so that each forms a water-tight cell inclosing the large, smooth, 
shining brown, orbicular, compressed seed, which does not completely fill it, but 
leaves a large air space. Testa of the seed hard, thick, and woody. Cotyledons 
inclosing an air space between them, which gives buoyancy to the seed and enables 
it to be transported by ocean currents. (See Pl. XV.) 
In Guam the seeds are called ‘‘ bayog’’ or ‘‘ badyog.’? The stems often grow to 
the thickness of a man’s arm and to a length of a hundred feet. When green it is 
tough, but on drying it loses its strength. Fish traps are often made of the green 
stems. The stems are saponaceous and when crushed are used for washing clothes. 
In India the seeds are used for washing the hair, and as a remedy for fever. In 
Java they are used as an emetic. In Samoa the seeds, called ‘‘tupe”’ by the natives, 
are used in playing certain games. This name has now been applied to money. 
REFERENCES: 
Lens phaseoloides Stickman Herb. Amb. 1754; Amoen. Acad. 4: 128. 1759. 
Mimosa scandens L. Sp. Pl. ed. 2. 2: 1501. 1763. 
Entada scandens Benth. Hook. Journ, Bot. 4: 332. 1842. 
The name Lens was published for this genus in 1754, while Entada was not pub- 
lished until 1763. 
Lenteha fransesa (Guam). 
The local name for Cajan cajan, so called because it was introduced by the French 
ship Castries (1772). 
Leston (Guam). 
Vernacular name for Ophioglossum pendulum, signifying ‘belt,’ or ‘‘ribbon.’’ See 
under Ferns, 
Lettuce. See Lactuca sativa. 
Leucaena glauca. HEDGE ACACTA,. 
Family Mimosaceae. 
Loca NAMES.—Tarigantarigan (Guam); Agho (Philippines); Santa Helena 
(Spanish); Hediondilla (Porto Rico); Aroma blanca (Cuba); Lead tree (West 
‘Indies) . 
An unarmed Acacia-like shrub, or small tree, with globular heads of flowers, much 
used in Guam for fences or hedges. Leaves bipinnate, with glands on the petioles; 
pinnae 4 to 6 pairs bearing 10 to 20 pairs of leaflets; leaflets oblong-linear, acute, 
very oblique, slightly curved, pale or glaucous underneath; peduncles solitary or 
two or three together in the upper axils, 2.5 to 3.5 cm. long, the upper ones forming 
a terminal raceme; heads about 2.5 cm, in diameter, flowers whitish, turning brown 
on dying, not fragrant; calyx cylindrical-campanulate, shortly toothed; petals val- 
vate, free; stamens 10, free, much exserted; ovary stalked, many ovuled; style fili- 
form, stigma minute terminal; pod flat, coriaceous, straight, strap-shaped, dehiscent, 
15 to 20-seeded. This plant resembles a Mimosa in having 10 stamens, but differs 
from that genus in haying strap-shaped pods like an Acacia. 
Branches or stakes of this plant when stuck in the ground take root readily, and 
for this reason, together with the fact that cattle do not relish its leaves, it is a favorite 
