19(^ USEFUL PLANTS OF GUAM. 



to all species of Barringtonia, is undoubtedly of the same origin as the Guam, Philip- 

 pine, and Polynesian names for species of the same genus. 

 Referexie.-*: 

 Barriiiijtoiua racrmosa (L.) Roxb. Hort. Beng. 52. 1814 (ex Ind. Kew.); Fl. 



Ind. 2 ; 634. 1832. 

 Eugenia nicfniosn L. Sp. PI. 1: 471. 17.53. 

 [/ Barringrtonia speciosa. Futv. Pl.\te xxxviii. 



Family Lecythidaceae. 



Local names. — Puting (Guam); Putat (Malay); Botong (Philippines); Futii 



(Samoa, Tonga); Hutu, Hudu, Fudu (Tahiti); Vutu(Fiji); Utu ( Rarotonga ) ; 



Hutum (Amboina); Dod-da (Andaman Islands). 



A handsome glabrous tree, with dark, glossy, entire, wedge-shaped, oblong, obtuse, 



coriaceous leaves, and conspicuous flowers having 4 white petals and a dense tuft 



or brush of crimson-tipped stamens; style very long and slender; fruit in the form 



of a 4-sided pyramid, about 3 inches across the middle, consisting when dry of a 



hard, smooth case containing solid fibrous matter and 1 seed. 



This species is widely spread in the Pacific, but does not occur in the Hawaiian 

 Islands. It is found in the Malay Archipelago, the Andaman Islands, and Ceylon. 

 The fruits are buoyant, and, as the tree grows down to the very edge of the sea, 

 they often fall into the water and are carried by currents and cast upon other shores. 

 In Samoa I have seen seeds left in depressions on a newly formed reef sending forth 

 vigorous sprouts and shoots. The futu and the goat's foot convolvulus were there 

 the pioneer settlers on the new territory. 



In Guam this tree is very abundant. In places on the east shore between Pago 

 and Talofofo one can scarcely walk without stepping on the fallen fruit (ir crushing 

 the young plants. The natives use the fruit when dry as floats for their nets, and 

 the fresh fruit for stupefying fish." The use of the seeds of this plant as a fish 

 intoxicant is widely .spread in Polynesia and the East Indies. 

 Referen'Ces: 

 Barringtonia speciosa Forst. Char. Gen. 76. /. 3S. 1776. 

 Bartramia. See ilosscs. 



Barubatones (Visayan). See KyJIinga ntonocephala. 

 Baseng (Philippines). See Zinzibcr zingiber. 

 Basengbaseng (Philippines). See Sida rliombifolia. 

 Basil. See Orinnan cnnum and 0. sanrtum. 

 Basil, sweet. See Ocimnnr bentilicnm. 

 Basora prieta (Porto Rico). See Wallherin americana. 

 Basote (Porto Rico). See <^'Iienopodium ambrosioides. 

 Bastard currant. See Eliretia inicropht/lhi. 

 Baston-de-San-Jose (Guam). See Taetsia lerminali.'i. 

 Batao (Philippines). See Ikiliehos labtah. 

 Batobatonis (Tagalog). See Euphorbia hirta. 

 Batunes (Guam). See Met^osphaerum capitatum. 

 Baiihinia sp. 



Family Caesalpiniaceae. 

 Local names. — Flor de mariposa (Guam). 

 A shrub or small tree with beautiful, large, variegated, red-and-yellow flowers, 

 somewhat like those of Bauhinia varlegata. Introduced into Guam and cultivated 

 by a few natives in their gardens as an ornamental plant. 



a See p. 81. 



