EMERGENCY FOOD PLANTS AND POISONOUS PLANTS 4-6 



by these species when engaged in actually felling the trees. 

 Their poisonous properties are thoroughly well known to the 

 natives. Curiously, the fruits of all of these wild and semi- 

 wild types of mango can be safely eaten, even when the 

 sap is poisonous. 



c. Stinging plants. — There are some types of plants, never 

 very common, that have stinging hairs such as the tree net- 

 tles (Laportea) (par. 24d) and the cowhage (Mucuna) 

 (par. 24e). These stinging hairs of the latter are merely 

 mechanical irritants and are not poisonous. 



■ 5. Jungle Pests. — Keep constantly in mind the fact that 

 in all of Malaysia and Polynesia there is almost no danger 

 from poisonous snakes, noxious insects, spiders, and poison- 

 ous plants. The forests and jungles of the entire region 

 are a distinctly safe place in which to operate under any- 

 thing even approaching normal conditions. The malaria 

 mosquito and the land leech are the pests to avoid whenever 

 possible. The land leech is found only in the high forests 

 during the rainy season, or in the areas where the rainfall 

 is heavy in all months of the year. 



Section HI 



ASSISTANCE AND ADVICE OF NATIVES 



Paragraph 



Native use of plants 6 



Advice of natives 7 



Local names 8 



■ 6. Native Use of Plaj^ts. — In all parts of the region the 

 natives in general know both the wild and the cultivated 

 plants which may be used as food. However, in certain 

 sections, for example, Java, their use as food may be known 

 but quite unknown to the natives of other islands in Malaya, 

 Micronesia, and Polynesia. The breadfruit, which is a basic 

 food in many parts of Polynesia, is little used as food in most 

 parts of Malaya, where the species also occurs, simply because 

 better foods are usually available there. A great many plants 

 used by the natives of Java as food are quite unknown as food 

 plants elsewhere. 



3 



