198 USEFUL PLAWTS OF GTTAM. 



hairy, with heart-shaped lobed leaves and yellow flowers, the male flowers with 

 long stalks, the female almost stalkless. Cultivated in the gardens of Guam for the 

 fruit, which is cooked as a v^etable and also as a "dulce." 

 References: 

 Benincasa cerifera Savi, Bibl. Ital. 9: loS. 1818 (ex Ind. Kew.)- 

 Benne. See Sesamum orlentale. 

 Berbena (Guam), i^ee Heliotropium indi(nim. 

 Berengena (Spanish). See Solanum melongena. 

 Berenghenas (Guam). See Solanum melongena. 

 Bergamot. See Citrus auranlium bergamia. 

 Bermuda grass. See Capriola dactylon. 

 Beta vulgaris (the common beet). See Gardens. 

 Betel leaf. See Piper betle. 

 Betelnut. See Areca cathecu. 

 Betel pepper. See Piper betle. 



Biancaea sappan. Sappan. 



Local names. — Sibukao, Sibucao (Guam and Philippines); Palo del Brazil 

 (Spanish). 



A thorny shrub or small tree with racemes of showy yellow flowers; Leaves 

 abruptly bipinnate; pinna? 20 to 24; spines on rachis of leaves at base of pinna? and 

 stipulary spines at base of petioles; leafleits 20 to 30, small oblong, very oblique; 

 stamens woolly; pods short, broad (7.5 to 10 cm. long by 1 cm. broad), oblique, 

 woody, with recurved beak at the upper angle, 3 or 4 seeded. 



This species was introduced into Guam at least a century ago. It grows readily 

 on the island, and boundary hedges composed of it have spread into thickets in many 

 places. Its heartwood yields a fine red dye, which is extensively used in India, and 

 it is exported from Ceylon. The bark and the root are also used for dyeing. The 

 wood is an astringent and contains tannic and gallic acids. It is used medicinally in 

 India. In Guam the natives make little use of it, as it requires considerable labor to 

 separate the heart from the rest of the wood. It could be grown with success on the 

 island, as it spreads there of its own accord and requires little or no attention. Owing 

 to the ease with which it grows and its thick habit of growth, it is used for defining 

 the boundaries of land. The wood takes a fine polish and does not warp nor crack. 



In preparing the wood for dyeing it is cut into chips, which are pounded and boiled 

 for several hours in water. It yields a red color, which is intensified by alkalies. 

 For dyeing cotton tannin and alum are used as mordants, for wool a mixture of alum 

 and cream of tartar. In India it is combined with indigo to produce a purple dye 

 and with turmeric and sulphate of iron to produce a rich maroon. A dye is extracted 

 from the bark of the trmik and roots by boiling, and the pods are used, like those 

 of several other allied species, together with the protosulphate of iron, to make an 

 ink or black dye. 

 References: 

 Biancaea sappan (L. ) Todaro, Hort. Bot. Pan. 1: 3. 1876. 

 Caesalpinia sappan L. Sp. PI. 1 : 381. 1753. 



The type of the Linnsean genus Caesalpinia, to which this species was referred by 

 Linnaeus, and by nearly all authors since his time, is C. brasiliensis L. Sp. PI. ed. 1. 

 1 : 380. 1753, so far as it relates to the species of Plumier, froai whom Linnseus adopted 

 the genus with a slight modification in the spelling of the name. It is not, however, 

 Caesalpinia brasiliensis L. Sp. PI. ed. 2. 1; 544. 1762, which is an unarmed tree and 

 does not belong to the same genus as Plumier's species, but under the specific name 

 linnaei has in part usually been referred to Peltophorum. Neither should the original 

 Caesidpinia brasilienm, though named C. crista by Linnseus Sp. PI. ed. 2. 1 : 544. 1762, 

 be confused with C. crista L. Sp. PI. ed. 1. 1 : 380. 1753, which is Guilandina crista 



