THE PLANT WORLD 115 



distinct from both of them. I have seen neither of the latter forms on this 

 island. This acid-lime is shaped like a small orange and has a thin, 

 smooth skin. Both the lemons and limes are constant bearers. Flowers 

 and fruit are always seen on the trees together. Oranges, on the other 

 hand, ripen at definite seasons, usually twice a year. The trees burst 

 into bloom at the beginning of the rainy season, and recall the 

 blooming fruit trees of our own spring. Another characteristic which 

 the lemon and lime share in common, and in which they differ from the 

 orange, is their habit of sending up numerous shoots from the roots. 

 They are consequently used for hedges, and if neglected they form dense 

 thickets like those of the " lemoncito " or orange-berry iTriphasia tri- 

 foliata), which is overrunning this island in certain districts. 



I think it very probable that the bergamot is a variety or subspecies 

 of the orange, which it closely resembles in shape and habit. The fruit 

 is not edible and is valued only for the delightful fragrance of the rind. 

 The natives use it for washing the hair. 



From a botanical point of view the most interesting Citrus of the island 

 is the wild orange, which seems to be identical in all respects with the 

 indigenous orange of Samoa and the Fiji Islands. In Guam, just as in 

 Samoa and Fiji, the natives use the fruit for washing. Both the pulp of 

 the fruit and the leaves are saponaceous. In Fiji it is the leaves which 

 are chiefly used for washing ; in Samoa it is the fruit. So extensive is 

 its use on those islands that its name ' ' inoli ' ' has been adopted as the 

 name for "' soap." In Guam the fruit is not only used for washing the 

 hair and body but also for clothing. It is a common sight on this island 

 to see scores of women standing waist-deep in the river washing linen 

 with wild oranges for soap and corn-cobs for rubbers. The linen is 

 spread out upon a wooden tray {batea), rubbed over with a half-orange, 

 and vigorously scrubbed with a corn-cob. In places where the current 

 is sluggish the surface of the river is often covered with refuse oranges 

 and corn-cobs. Seemann has referred the Fijian wild orange to Citrus 

 vulgaris of Risso, and Reinecke, in his " Flora der Samoa-Inseln," has 

 followed Seemann. The Europeans in Fiji and Samoa call it the bitter- 

 orange. Whatever may be the proper name to apply to it, it differs 

 undoubtedly from the form known in Europe as the bitter-orange in its 

 saponaceous properties, though like that form (called C. vulgaris or C. 

 bigaradia) its leaves have broadly-winged petioles. The blossoms of the 

 bitter orange of Europe are the source of a perfume and the fruit is one 

 of the chief sources of orange marmalade. The fruit of the wild orange 

 of the Pacific islands could not be used in this way. It is not edible. For 

 the present I shall call our wild orange Citrus aurantiuvi L- Linnaeus 's 

 description applies to the wild form. He designates the cultivated sweet 

 orange as the variety Citrus aurantiuvi si^iensis, or the ' ' Chinese orange. ' ' 



