356 USEFUL PLANTS OF GUAM. 



From the fibrous inner bark of this species the Samoans make their red, shaggy, 

 rug-like mats and their nets and fishing lines. The fiber is of fine texture and great 

 strength, but difficult to prepare. In Australia it is known as the Queensland 

 grass-cloth plant, or native mulberry. It was first collected on Guam by Gaudichaud. 

 The fiber is not utilized on this island. From the allied mamake the Hawaiians 

 made bark-cloth or "tapa." The bark yields a brown dye. 

 REFERENCES: 



Pipturus argenteus (Forst.) Wedd. in DC. Prod. 16 ': 235 19 . 1869. 

 Urtica argentea Forst. Prod. 65. 1786. 

 Pipturus propinquus. Same as Pipturus argenteus, 

 Pisang ( Philippines ) . See Musa paradisiaca. 

 Pisonia brunoniana. Same as Pisonia excelsa. 

 Pisonia excelsa. 



Family Nyctaginaceae. 



LOCAL NAMES. Umumu, Umumo (Guam); Tak-an (Philippines); Buatea 



(Tahiti'). 



A shrub or tree, glabrous or nearly so; leaves opposite or growing in whorls at the 

 ends of the branches, more or less coriaceous, oblong or oval, obtuse or pointed at 

 the tip, slightly cordate, usually attenuate at the base (15 to 20 cm. or more long by 



4 to 6 cm. wide). 'Flowers dioecious, growing in terminal or lateral clusters (10 to 15 

 cm. long); clusters in pairs or in fours on the extremities of the branches, sometimes 

 covered with reddish hairs, or on nodules on the lower parts of the branches; 

 peduncles smooth or pubescent, like the rest of the inflorescence, often elongated 

 and with short ramifications or shortened and with longer ramifications. Perianth 

 funnel-shaped, 5 to 6 mm. long, 5-toothed, the fruiting clusters larger than the 

 flowering ones; fruiting perianth, 4 to 5 cm. long by 3 to 4 mm. wide, oblong, with 



5 ribs either smooth or armed with tiny spines, attenuate at the base, claviform at 

 the top, exuding a viscous juice; stamens 6 to 10, of unequal length, protruding; 

 female flowers having a 1-celled ovary more or less elongated, with a single erect 

 ovule; style often exserted with a 2-lobed stigma; stigma-lobes pectinate; style of 

 male flowers when present often shorter than the stamens, its stigma lateral, oval, 

 entire, spongy; fruit angular, inclosed in the persistent tube of the perianth, the angles 

 frequently armed with prickly glands, which are sometimes scarcely perceptible. 



This species is quite variable and has been described under several names. It is 

 widely distributed throughout the Pacific and in tropical Asia. 

 REFERENCES: 



Pisonia excelsa Blume, Bijdr. 735. 1826. 



Pisonia umbellifera Seem. ; Nadeaud, Enum. PI. Tahiti, 46. 1873. 

 Pisonia mitis. Same as Pisonia excelsa. 

 Pisonia umbellifera. Same as Pisonia excelsa. 

 Pisum sativum. 



Peas (Spanish "alverjas") will not grow in Guam. 

 REFERENCES : 



Pisum sativum L. Sp. PI. 2: 727. 1753. 



Pithecolobium dulce. GUAMACHIL. 



Family Mimosaceae. 

 LOCAL NAMES. Kamachiles, Camachile (Guam, Philippines); Guamachil, 



Huamachil, Guamachi (Mexico); Manila Tamarind (India). 



A medium-sized tree introduced into Guam from Mexico, via the Philippines, bearing 

 heads of small yellowish-green flowers followed by pods containing seeds embedded 

 in a sweet, white, edible pulp or aril. Branches glabrous, pendulous; leaves abruptly 

 bipinnate, composed of a single pair of pinnae, each of which has a single pair of 



