344 USEFUL PLANTS OF GUAM. 



and when old are covered with short, sharp protuberances, like stout spines; leaves 

 crowded at the ends of the branches, green, not glaucous, 90 to 150 cm. long, about 

 7.5 cm. broad at the base, prickly on the margins and along the keeled midrib, 

 coriaceous, coarse, not very pliable nor strong; drupes arranged in a solid round or 

 oval head, somewhat resembling a pineapple about the size of a man's head, numer- 

 ous, top-shaped, blunt at the apex, angular, 1-5.5 to 7.5 cm. long and 2.5 to 3 cm. 

 broad at the end, each composed of several carpels, of which one is central and the 

 others grouped around it; the top divided by shallow grooves into as many parts as 

 there are carpels; fruit fragrant when ripe, often bursting open when falling to the 

 ground; sides of drupes yellow or orange. 



The ripe fruit is much eaten by flying foxes (Pteropus keraudreni) and rats (Mny 

 decumanus), which abound on the island, but it is not a food staple of the natives. 

 The kernel of the seed is almond-like in shape, of the consistency of beechnuts, and 

 the flavor of otto of roses. It is occasionally eaten by the natives as a relish, but 

 is too small to repay one for the trouble of picking it out. The trunks are often 

 used for building temporary ranches or farm dwellings; they are not very durable. 

 Advantage is taken of the dichotomous branching of the limbs to make supports for 

 platforms. Water troughs are made of straight trunks of specimens from the forest, 

 but they soon decay. Along the roadsides and near dwellings trees of kafo are seen 

 with their trunks notched in such a manner as to make a reservoir for the rain 

 water which is caught by the leaves and drains down the trunk. Often the presence 

 of a good tree of this kind determines the place where a ranch shall be built. The 

 limbs are also fine chicken roosts, not an unimportant matter in the domestic 

 economy of the natives. In the forests the trunk sometimes rises to a height of 7 

 meters, straight and smooth, before branching. The heartwood of the old trees is 

 hard and palm-like. It is made into walking sticks. 

 REFERENCES : 



Pandanus fragrans Brongn. Ann. Sci. Nat. VI. 1: 274. t. 15. f. 10. 1875. 

 Pandanus tectorius. TEXTILE SCREWPINE. PLATE vn. 



LOCAL NAMES. Aggag, Aggak, Akgak (Guam); Paiidan, Sabotan (Philippines); 

 Fala, Lau-fala (Samoa); Hala, Lau-hala (Hawaii). 



A small tree with a trunk, which usually begins to branch very low, the branches 

 often bending downward nearly to the ground; leaves long, sword-shaped, armed 

 with spines on the margin and keel, differing in color and texture from those of the 

 other species on the island, being glaucous and of great textile strength. Only one. 

 sex occurs on the island, so that it must be propagated by cuttings. These take root 

 readily; indeed, a branch lying on the surface will often send out roots which pene- 

 trate the ground. The natives frequently plant this species in hedges, which serve 

 the double purpose of defining their boundaries and of furnishing material for cord- 

 age and for mats, hats, and bags. 



Dried leaves stripped of the rigid, spiny keel, are used either in their simple form 

 or twisted together as lashings for the framework of buildings and for securing thatch 

 to the roof. For making mats, hats, and bags the leaves are steeped in hot w r ater, 

 scraped and split into strips of various widths according to the fineness of the 

 fabric desired, dried in the sun, and thoroughly cleaned. Mats are braided with 

 the strips crossing diagonally, as in the mats of the eastern Polynesians, not woven 

 with warp and w r oof as are the mats of many of the Micronesians. Some of the hats 

 and small bags are very fine. In the early days the natives of Guam made their 

 sails of aggak leaves. The plant was undoubtedly introduced into the island in pre- 

 historic times. In India, where Pandanus tectorius is cultivated, male trees are very 

 common, but female trees are of very rare occurrence/' 



a Solms-Laubach, Monographia Pandanacearum, Liniuea, vol. 42, p. 38, 1878. 



