DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 859 



Pomelo. See Citrus decumnnn. 



Pondweed. General name for the species of Potamogeton. 



Pontan (Guam). 



Vernacular name for a coconut which has fallen to the ground. 

 Portlandia tetrandra. Same as Cormigonm iiutriannensis. 



Portulaca oleracea. Purslane. 



Family Portulacaceae. 



Local names. — Verdolaga (Spanish); Osuberi-hiyu (Japan). 

 This common weed is spread all over the world. It is sometimes eaten as a pot 

 herb and is used medicinal 1}'. It is said to be antiscorbutic. Flowers inconspicuous, 

 several together in terminal heads; sepals 2, fleshy. In Japan there is a variety 

 (sativa) cultivated by the natives, which attains the height of 30 cm. In tlie spring 

 and summer months the leaves and stalks are eaten either raw or scalded. 

 References: 



Portii/ncd (ileraeea L. Sp. PI. 1: 445. 1753. 



Portulaca quadrifida. Four-leaved purslane. 



Local names. — Hierl)a de polio (Spanish) ; Fiafiatuli (Samoa). 



A small, delicate, prostrate, much-branched annual, creeping and rooting at the 

 nodes, with numerous slender, glabrous stems; leaves numerous, opposite, 6 mm. 

 long or smaller, very nearly sessile, oval, subobtuse, fleshy; stipular appendages a 

 ring of long white hairs; flower solitary, terminal, sessile, surrounded with long white 

 hairs and an involucre of 4 leaves; sepals oblong-oval, obtuse, thin; jietals 4, lemon- 

 yellow, oval, ol)tuse; stamens 8; style filiform, 4-cleft at apex; capsule acute; seeds 

 twice the size of those of P. oleracea, rough, witli small firm excrescences. 



A delicate creeping plant, often minute, in dry situations, growing in cultivated 

 ground; flowers open in the middle of the day only. Common on the sabanas of 

 Guam. Sometimes used as a pot herb, either for food or as an antiscorbutic. 

 References: 



Portulaca quadrifida L. Mant. 1 : 73. 1767. 

 Portulacaceae. Purslane family. 



The only lepresentatives of this family in Guam are the two preceding species of 

 Portulaca. 



Pot herbs. 



Among the plants used in Guam for golae ( greens or pot herbs, Spanish ' ' verdura) , ' ' 

 are severel species of Amaranthus called "kelites," "kuletes," or "bledos;" Clieno- 

 podlum albuiit, also called " kelites" or "cenizo;" Indian nmstard {Brassicajuiicea) ; 

 purslane or "verdolaga" {Portulaca oleracea), and "chara" (Sesuviuia portulacas- 

 truni ) . 



The value of pot herbs or "greens" as a preventive and cure for scurvy has long 

 been recognized, and there can be no question that such food is necessary from time 

 to time to keep the human body in good condition. The value of this element in 

 diet has been discussed in a paper by Mr. Frederick V. Coville." 



In addition to the plants above mentioned the natives of nearly all the islands of 

 the Pacific eat the young leaves of the taro {Caladium colocasla), which must be 

 thoroughly cooked to remove the acridity of their natural state. '' These leaves are 

 either boiled like spinach or they are prepared with the expressed creamy juice of 

 the coconut and baked in native ovens. In Samoa this dish is called "palusami." 



Among the trees which furnish edible pods, leaves, and flowers are the maruiiggai, 

 or horseradish tree {Moringa moringa), and the leguminous katiirai {Agati grandl- 



«Coville, Some Additions to our Vegetable Dietary, Yearbook, U. S. Dept. Agr., 

 1S95, p. 206. 

 ''See p. 69. 



