820 USEFUL PLANTS OF GUAM. 
Mayagas (Guam). See Cassytha filiformis. 
Medicago sativa. ALFALFA, 
Attempts have been made to introduce alfalfa into Guam, but they have been 
unsuccessful. See Forage plants, p. 151. 
Medicinal plants. 
Anacardium occidentalis.—An acrid oil is obtained from the pericarp or shell of 
the cashew nut. It is used in India as a remedy in the anesthetic variety of lep- 
rosy, and as a blister in the treatment of warts, corns, and ulcers. By macerating 
the shell in alcohol an oil is obtained which is a very good remedy for the crack- 
ing of the skin of the sole of the foot. The kernels of the nut yield a fixed oil. 
For other uses see name. 
Arachis hypogaea. —Peanut oil is used as a substitute for olive oil in the prepara- 
tion of ointments and plasters. 
Artemisia vulgaris.—Infusion of leaves used in treating ulcers. 
Calophyllum inophyllum.—Fresh seed yield a green oil used externally for rheu- 
matism and for lamps. A resin exudes from the fruit and branches, used in 
India in treating sore eves. 
Cassia fistula.—Pulp of the fruit is used as a purgative. 
Cassia occidentalis and Cassia sophera.—Paste made of fresh leaves used as a 
remedy for wounds and ulcers. Ointment made of bruised leaves, sulphur, and 
ripe seeds a remedy for ringworm and itch. 
Cassia tora.—Leaves used as an aperient and externally for ringworm and itch. 
Seeds roasted and made into a decoction resembling coffee. 
Chrysanthemum indicum.—Flowers used for fevers and female complaints. 
Clerodendron inerme.—The bitter*leaves used in intermittent fevers. 
Clitoria ternatea.— Roots and seeds are cathartic. 
Ficus spp.—Juice of banyan trees astringent, used to check the flow of blood. 
Guilandina crista.—Powdered seeds used in intermittent fevers and as a tonic. 
Herpetica alata.—Leaves used as a remedy for ringworm and for other skin 
diseases. 
Jatropha curcas.—Seeds purgative. The juice is applied to foul ulcers. 
Lawsonia inermis.—An ointment made of the leaves is used for wounds, bruises, 
and ulcers. 
Mangifera indica.—Gum of trunk and branches mixed with lime juice or oil 
used in cutaneous diseases. 
Melia azedarach.—Poultices of leaves and bark used in leprosy and scrofulous 
ulcers. Paste of flowers used to destroy lice and for eruptions of the scalp. 
Ricinus communis.—Purgative. 
Tamarindus indica.—Tamarinds are used as a remedy and preventive of scurvy. 
The pulp mixed with water is given to children as a laxative. 
Medinilla rosea. MEDINILLA. 
Family Melastomataceae. 
Local NAMES.—Gafus (Guam). 
A smooth shrubby plant with round branches, entire 3-nerved leaves growing 
in whorls of three or four, and axillary cymes of rose-colored, 4-petaled flowers. 
Leaves obovate-oblong, the 2 lateral nerves near the margin; peduncles of the umbel- 
like flower-clusters bearing at their tips 6 to 8 flowers; pedicels articulate at the base; 
calyx ventricose-ovate, adnate to the ovary, its limb free, tubular, truncate, entire, 
persistent; the 4 petals inserted at the margin of the epigynous disk, dolabriform- 
ovate, widely spreading, equal; stamens 8, inserted in the same way; filaments fili- 
form; anthers linear-subulate, subarcuate, bilocular, opening by a terminal pore, 
bilobate at the base and shortly spurred at the produced connective, the alternate 
ones (opposite the petals) longer, and more slender; style terete, erect, somewhat 
curved at the apex; stigma simple, obtuse; berry ovate-globose, rose-colored, crowned 
by the limb of the calyx, 4-celled, cells with many seeds; seeds falcate-ellipsoid, 
smooth; raphe not excurrent. 
This plant was collected by Gaudichaud in Guam and referred to in the narrative 
of the Freycinet expedition as Melastoma medinillana. It was afterwards made the 
