382 USEFUL PLANTS OF GUAM. 



Taetsia terminalis. PALM-LILY. 



Family Liliaceae. 



LOCAL NAMES. Baston de San Jose (Guam) ; Saguilala (Philippines) ; Ti (Samoa, 

 Raratonga, Tahiti); Ting (Ponape); Ki (Hawaii); Qui, Masawe (Fiji). 



A plant with an erect stem bearing a cluster of simple leaves, often of a reddish 

 color, rising from a large tuberous, saccharine root, and with terminal panicles of 

 small flowers. Stem erect, 1.5 to 3 meters high, marked with leaf scars; leaves 

 lanceolate, 30 to 60 cm. long, 8.5 to 10 cm. broad at the middle, contracting to a 

 petiole of 5 to 7.5 cm. long, with many longitudinal nerves diverging from a short rib; 

 flowers sessile on the alternating branches of the panicle, 3-bracted; perianth jointed 

 with the short pedicel, split to the middle into 6 equal lobes; stamens 6, inserted at 

 the throat; ovary 3-celled, ovules numerous; style filiform, stigmas 3-lobed or nearly 

 entire; berry round, 4 to 6 mm. in diameter, often few-seeded; seeds obovoid, com- 

 pressed, often curved; testa black, shining; embryo axile, curved. 



This plant is widely distributed in the Pacific; but it did not find its way to Guam 

 until after the discovery, and at present has no Chamorro name. Its Spanish name, 

 signifying "St. Joseph's staff," has been applied to it evidently on account of its 

 slender, straight stem and its graceful terminal tuft of leaves. It is now abundant on 

 the sides of the road leading from Agafia to Pago. In Hawaii it is held in high 

 esteem by the natives, who plant it around the tombs of their dead. The aboriginal 

 Hawaiians ma'de a fermented drink out of the fleshy, sweet roots. The modern 

 Hawaiians distill from them a highly intoxicating liquor, somewhat like rum. In 

 Samoa the natives make fringed skirts (titi) of the leaves, which they wear in fishing 

 on the reef and in rainy weather. The leaves are also much used by the Polynesians 

 for wrapping fish and other food before putting it into the native ovens to bake. The 

 leaves are free from any pronounced taste. They are excellent for fodder for animals, 

 and are often used in native feasts, together with leaves of bananas and plantains, as 

 plates or trays upon which food is spread. 



In Guam the natives use it only as an ornamental plant. 

 REFERENCES: 



Taetsia terminalis (L. ) 



Asparagus terminalis L. Sp. PL ed. 2. 1 : 450. 1762. 

 Dracaena terminalis L. Syst. ed. 12. 246. 1767. 

 Cordyline terminalis Kunth, Abh. A cad. Berl. 30. 1820. 



The name Cordyline, as shown in the discussion under that name on an earlier page 

 in this work, is an untenable name for this genus, and Taetsia, proposed by Medicus 

 in 1786 and based on the species ferrea, is accordingly reinstated. 

 Tagete or Taguete (Guam). 



Vernacular name for a species of Ficus allied to the banyan, but without aerial 

 roots from the branches, common in the forests and growing to great size. Wood 

 used only for fuel. 



Tagoa (Guam). See Lagenaria lagenaria. 

 Tagum (Philippines). See Indigofera anil and /. tinctoria. 

 Takan (Philippines). See Pisonia excelsa. 

 Takete (Guam). See Ficus spp. 

 Talamtala (Porto Rico). See Herpetica alata. 

 Talie (Samoa). See Terminalia catappa. 

 Talisai (Guam, Philippines). See Terminalia catappa. 

 Talong (Philippines). See Solanum melongena. 

 Tamanu (Polynesia). See Calophyllum inophyllum. 

 Tamarind. See Tamarindus indica. 



