344 USEFUL PLANTS OF GUAM. 
and when old are covered with short, sharp protuberances, like stout spines; leaves 
crowded at the ends of the branches, green, not glaucous, 90 to 150 cm. long, about 
75cm. broad at the base, prickly on the margins and along the keeled midrib, 
coriaceous, coarse, not yery pliable nor strong; drupes arranged ina solid round or 
oval head, somewhat resembling a pineapple about the size of a man’s head, numer- 
ous, top-shaped, blunt at the apex, angular, 3.5 to 7.5 em. long and 2.5 to 8 em. 
broad at the end, each composed of several carpels, of which one is central and the 
others grouped around it; the top divided by shallow grooves into as many parts as 
there are carpels; fruit fragrant when ripe, often bursting open when falling to the 
ground; sides of drupes yellow or orange. 
The ripe fruit is much eaten by flying foxes (Pleropus keraudreni) and rats (Mus 
decumanus), which abound on the island, but it is not a food staple of the natives. 
The kernel of the seed is almond-like in shape, of the consistency of beechnuts, and 
the flavor of otto of roses. It is occasionally eaten by the natives as a relish, but 
is too small to repay one for the trouble of picking it out. The trunks are often 
used for building temporary ranches or farm dwellings; they are not very durable. 
Advantage is taken of the dichotomous branching of the limbs to make supports for 
platforms. Water troughs are made of straight tranks of specimens from the forest, 
but they soon decay. Along the roadsides and near dwellings trees of kafO are seen 
with their trunks notched in such a manner as to make a reservoir for the rain 
water which is caught by the leaves and drains down the trunk. Often the presence 
of a good tree of this kind determines the place where a ranch shall be built. The 
limbs are also fine chicken roosts, not an unimportant matter in the domestic 
economy of the natives. In the forests the trunk sometimes rises to a height of 7 
meters, straight and smooth, before branching. The heartwood of the old trees is 
hard and palm-like. It is made into walking sticks. 
REFERENCES: 
Pandanus fragrans Brongn. Ann. Sei. Nat. VI. 1: 274. (2 15. J. 10, W875. 
Pandanus tectorius. TEXTILE SCREWPINE. PLATE VI. 
LocaL NAMbs.—Ageag, Ageak, Akgak (cinam); Pandan, Sabotan (Philippines) ; 
Fala, Lau-fala (Samoa); Hala, Lau-hala (Ilawaii). 
A smell tree with a trunk, which usually begins to branch very low, the branches 
often bending downward nearly to the ground; leaves long, sword-shaped, armed 
with spines on the margin and keel, differing in color and texture from those of the 
other species on the island, being glaucous and of great textile strength. Only one 
sex occurs on the island, so that it must be propagated by cuttings. These take root 
readily; indeed, a branch lying on the surface will often send out roots which pene- 
trate the ground. The natives frequently plant this species in hedges, which serve 
the double purpose of defining their boundaries and of furnishing material for cord- 
age and for mats, hats, and bags. 
Dried leaves stripped of the rigid, spiny keel, are used cither in their simple form 
or twisted together as lashings for the framework of buildings and for securing thatch 
to the roof. For Inaking mats, hats, and bags the leaves are steeped in hot water, 
scraped and split into strips of various widths according to the fineness of the 
fabric desired, dried in the sun, and thoroughly cleaned. Mats are braided with 
the strips crossing diagonally, as in the mats of the eastern Polynesians, not woven 
with warp and woof as are the mats of many of the Micronesians. Some of the hats 
and small bags are very fine. In the early days the natives of Guam made their 
sails of aggak leaves. The plant was undoubtedly introduced into the island in pre- 
historic times. In India, where Pandanus tectorius is cultivated, male trees are very 
common, but female trees are of very rare oceurrence, 4 
“Solms-Laubach, Monographia Pandanacearuin, Linnea, vol. 42, p. O8, TS78. 
