32(> USEFUL PLANTS OF GUAM. 



ohioiii: I'niit coiitaiiiing seeds ^iiirrounilcil liy a red aril. Stems more or less hairy; 

 IoIk'soI" U-aves sinuate-toothed, more or less liuiry on the iiiider side when young; 

 pedunclfs siemlcr with a ki(hiey-shai)ed l)racteole, vvhieh in the male ones is above 

 the niicUlle and in tlie female near the biise; flowers of medium size, pale yellow; 

 fruits bui-sting open w lu'n ripe, showing the red aril. 



Cultivated in (iuani. running along fences, etc. The fruit is hitter, but not 

 unwholesome. In India it is i^ateu in carries. Before cooking it must be steeped in 

 salt water. The plant is used as an external remedy in leprosy and malignant ulcers. 



RKKKHENeES: 



Momordira rh<ir>nifi>i T.. Sp. PI. 2: 100<). 175:5. 



Monggo (Philippines). See FliciseoluK luuiKjit. 



Mongg-os ((iuam). See Phaseolus mungo. 



Monggos paloma (Guam). Local name for (Inum' r'lKnmi. 



Monkey-pod (Honolulu). See PMiecolnliiinii sdintoi. 



Monkey-pod, sweet. See PithecolohUun dulce. 



Moraceae. Mulberry family. 



This family is represented in Chiam l)y the genera Artocarpus and Ficus. 



Morinda citrifolia. Indian Mulberry. '^' Plate xvi. 



Famih' Kubiaceae. 



Local names. — Ladda, Lada (Guam); Nino (Philippines); Nona (Malay Archi- 

 pelago); Nona (Southern India); Nono (Karotonga, Tahiti); Nonu (Samoa); 

 Noni (Hawaii); Urati (Solomon Islands); Kura (Fiji). 



A small tree widely spread over the Pacific, the Malay Archipelago, southern 

 India, and the w'est coast of Africa; in India yielding the al dye of commerce, for 

 whicli purpose it is there cultivated. Branchlets 4-angled; leaves large, glossy, 

 ovate, attenuate at each end, short-i)etioled, with broad, membranous stipules, con- 

 nate below into a loose sheath inclosing the peduncle; peduncles solitary, opposite 

 tlie leaves, rarely binate, or ternate at the ends of the branches; flowers 5-raerous, 

 growing in globose heads, white, the calyx tube short; corolla tube 12 mm. or less 

 long, lol)es glabrous, fusiform in Imd, throat pubescent; fruit of many drupes coales- 

 cent into a fleshy globose or ovoid bead, inclosing many cartilaginous or bony 

 1-seeded pyrenes. 



The seeds of this species are especially interesting, owing to their iiossession of a 

 distinct air chamber or vesicle, which renders them buoyant and capable of being 

 transported to great distances by ocean currents. ^ Not oidy have they been found 

 in the debris east up at the high-water mark along tropical shores, but experiments 

 have been made which demonstrate the great length of time they will float in salt 

 water. '' 



In (iuam the tree is used for dyeing, though, owing to the trouble of preparing it, 

 the dye is not now so extensively used as before the introduction of coal-tar dyes 

 into tlie island. P>oth a red and a yellow color are obtainable, the bark of the root 

 being the source of the best red dye, the root itself yielding a yellow dye. 



The fruit is eaten in many of the Pacific islands, but it is insipid and very full of 

 seeds. In India it is gathered green and forms an ingredient in the curries of the 

 native's. 



Ukkerknces: 



Morinda rllrifoliu L. Sp. PI. 1: 176. 1753. 



«Watt, Economic Products of India, vol. 5, p. 261, 1891. 



*See Schimper, Die indo-malayische Strandflora, p. 165, pi. vii, llg. 26, band c, 1891. 



cGuppy, The clispersal of plants, etc., Trans, of the Victoria Institute, 1890. 



