EDIBLE ALGA. S9 



furnishes in its small seeded fruits, when cooked, an occasional 

 substitute for those of the cultivated plantain ; it grows to a height 

 of 85 feet, and on account of its striking appearance it often forms a 

 conspicuous feature in the vegetation at the heads of the vallej's. 

 It is known as the " kallula." 



Amongst the wild fruits which are eaten by the natives in this 

 part of the group, are those of two trees named the " natu" and the 

 " finoa." As my specimens were insufficient for the determination 

 at Kew of the characters of these trees, I may add that the " natu" 

 grows to a lieight of a hundred feet, its fruit being of the size of a 

 small melon and having a pleasant flavour. The " finoa" grows to 

 a height of fifty feet ; it is occasionally found in the plantations. 



The natives of the Shortland Islands informed me that the 

 neighbouring people of Rubiana were accustomed to eat the fruits 

 of the common littoral tree Morinda citrifolia ("urati"), but that they 

 did not themselves eat it. The shoots of a tree named " poporoko,' 

 which belongs probably to the Olacinece, are eaten by the inhabitants 

 of Fauro, who also consider as edible the tiara-like cones (?) of the 

 Gnetum Gnemon ( " meriwa"). 



The fronds of ferns are in some species edible ; amongst them, 

 I may particularly refer to the " quaheli" (unfortunately not 

 identified), which is eaten by the natives of Treasury Island. Fungi, 

 which are generally known in this part of the group as " magu," ai^e 

 often cooked and eaten ; but throug^h inadvertence I am now unable 

 to refer particularly to the edible species. A delicacy with the 

 natives of Treasury is an alga, a species of Gaulerpa, which grows 

 in the sheltered waters just below the low-tide level at the western 

 end of the harbour. They eat it with keen relish, when freshly 

 picked from the rocks, holding it over the mouth and munching at 

 it just as if it were a bunch of grapes, which it somewhat resembles 

 in appearance. There is another non-edible species of Gaulerpa 

 which grows in the broken water on the weather or outer side of the 

 reef-flats.^ 



Tacca pinnatifida ("mamago"), commonly known as the South 

 Sea or Tahiti Arrowroot, is often seen on the coral islets in 

 Bougainville Straits. The natives, though acquainted with the 

 nutritious qualities of the plant, make little if any use of it. Mr. 

 Horne,^ writing of it in Fiji, says that the arrowroot obtained from tlie 



1 I am indebted to Mr. Moore of Sydney, for the identification of the genus. 



2 "A Year in Fiji," p. 104. 



