DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 335 



laughter, with occasional pauses during which Areca nuts, fresh betel leaves, and 

 lime are passed around on a tray, and the host dispenses cigars, made by the ladies 

 of his family, of tobacco leaves in the form of a cylindrical bundle kept together by 

 a wrapping of pineapple fiber or thread. 



In the Philippines toddy or "tuba" is made of the sap of the nipa, obtained as in 

 the cocoanut from the flowering spadix. This is not done in Guam, where coconuts 

 are much more abundant. Padre Blanco mentions nipa as a remedy for the bites of 

 centipedes and a cure for ulcers. The kernel is edible, but very hard and only eaten 

 occasionally in Guam as an experiment. 

 REFERENCES: 



Nypa fruticans Wurmb, Verh. Batav. Gen. 1: 350. 1779. 

 Ochra. See Abelmoschus esculentus. 



Ochrocarpos obovalis. CHOPAG. PLATE LIX. 



Family Clusiaceae. 

 LOCAL NAMES. Chopag (Guam). 



A medium-sized tree with leaves resembling those of Calophyllum and Clusia. 

 Branches rigid, warty, with light-colored bark; leaves opposite, short-petioled, nar- 

 rowed to the ba&e, obovate or oblong-obovate, broadly rounded at apex, entire, 

 smooth, coriaceous, 10 to 18 cm. long by 6 to 8 cm. wide, finely pinnate-veined and 

 delicately reticulate, with broad, prominent midrib; petioles stout, grooved, scarcely 

 13 mm. long; flowers fragrant, polygamous, lateral, single or clustered; peduncles 

 single-flowered with a few short bracts at the base; calyx closed in the bud, splitting 

 into two persistent sepals, which are 12 mm. long, broadly ovate and pointed; petals 

 6, white, oblong, about 13 mm. long; stamens numerous, filaments slender, united 

 at base; anthers elongated, fertile only in male flowers; female flowers with sterile 

 stamens, a single pistil, and peltate, subsessile stigma; fruit large, hard, and of an 

 oblong shape. 



The wood is hard, heavy, fine-grained, and durable. It is very highly prized by 

 the natives of Guam, who use it for posts and beams in the construction of their 

 houses. Sometimes the trunks yield logs 5 meters long and 30 cm. in diameter. As 

 the tree grows old red heart-wood is developed which at length takes up a great part 

 of the trunk. From this a dye somewhat like that obtained from sappan-w r ood is 

 obtained, but at the present time, when imported dyes are easily obtainable, the 

 natives do not go to the trouble to prepare it for use. 



The tree usually grows in rocky places near the shore. It is especially abundant 

 on the Peninsula of Orote and also on A papa Island. Vast quantities have been cut 

 down for the use of vessels touching at the island, but as it multiplies rapidly from 

 the seed it has not become rare. 



In the Index Kewensis Calysaccion obovale of Miquel is given as a synonym for 

 Ochrocarpos ovalifolius (Chois. ) T. Anders. The Guam species corresponds accurately 

 with Miquel's description, but not with that of 0. ovalifolius, the leaves of which are 

 "oval, obtuse at each end, or subcordate at the base," while those of our species 

 narrow gradually to the base. 



This tree was mentioned under its vernacular name by Gaudichaud in the botany 

 of the Freycinet expedition, but he did not know to what genus to refer it, calling it 

 in one place a species of Rauwolfia and in another Plumiera. He described the wood 

 correctly, but evidently did not see the flowers nor leaves. He probably confused it 

 with Ochrosia mariannensis, a tree with glossy coriaceous leaves belonging to the 

 Apocynaceae. 

 REFERENCES: 



Ochrocarpos obovalis (Miq.) Safford. 



Calysaccion obovale Miq. Fl. Ind. Bat. Suppl. 1 : 500. 1860. 



