DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 



297 



Inifut or Inifuk (Guam). 



"Vernacular name of a purplish grass, which sticks to the clothing. 

 Inkberry. See Cestrum pallidum. 

 ^nocarpus edulis. Same as Bocoa edulis. 



^ Intsia bijuga. Ipil. Plate liv. 



Family Fabaeeae. 



Local names.— Ipil (Philippines); Ifil, Ifit (Guam); Ifl-lele (Samoa); Vesi 

 (Fiji). 



The most important timber tree of Guam. Leaves abruptly pinnate; leaflets 2 

 pairs (rarely 1 pair), obliquely oblong, glabrous, inclined to be leathery; flowers in 

 a dense terminal corymbose panicle; calyx-tube cylindrical; sepals 4; corolla consist- 

 ing of one developed petal, which is exserted and is round in form, with a long claw; 

 fertile stamens 3, sterile 7; filaments more than 2.5 cm. long, anthers small; pod 

 rigid, flat, oblong, opening with difficulty; seeds 1 to 5. 



The heartwood of this tree is very hard and heavy, but not elastic. It is cross- 

 grained and hard to work. It is very durable and is used for the posts of the best 

 houses. The pillars of the church of Agana are the trunks of ifll trees cut very near 

 the site of the building. At first the wood is yellowish, then it turns rust-color, and 

 assumes a dark color with time, resembling that of black walnut. Although of 

 rather coarse grain, it takes a very fine polish. Nearly all the better houses of the 

 island have tables and settees made of it, and even floors, which are kept beautifully 

 polished by rubbing them with grated coconut wrapped in a cloth, through which the 

 oil oozes. The wood has the virtue of resisting the attacks of termites or white ants. 

 Trunks 9 meters long and 1 meter in diameter are sometimes found, but they usually 

 vary from 2.5 to 5 meters in length and from 30 to 60 cm. in diameter. Houses 

 made of newly sawn ifll are not whitewashed or painted until the wood has had 

 time to dry and season, on account of the brown coloring matter, which discolors the 

 surface. When old the wood becomes so hard that holes must be bored in it for 

 nails. The trees are becoming scarce in the vicinity of Agana, but are still compara- 

 tively abundant in the forests of the northern part of the island. 

 Eeperences: 



Jjitsia bijuga (Colebr.) Kuntze, Eev. Gen. 1: 192. 1891. 



A/zelia bijuga Gray, U. S. Expl. Exped. 1: 467. 1854, not Afzeliam bijuga 

 Spreng. 1827. 



Macrolobium bijugum Colebr. Trans. Linn. Soc. 12: 359. 1818. 

 Ipecac, ■wild (Hawaii). See Asclepias curassavica. 

 Ipil (Philippines). See Intsia bijuga. 



Ipomoea batatas. Sweet potato. 



Family Convolvulaceae. 

 Local names. — Gametic (Mexican); Oamote (Spanish); Kamote, Kamute 



(Guam); Kumara (Rarotonga, New Zealand); 'Uniala (Samoa and other 



Polynesian groups); Uala (Hawaii); Cumar (Quichuas of Ecuador); Ubi- 



castela (Malayan). 

 There are several varieties of sweet potato growing in Guam, differing from one 

 another in shape, color, and quality of the root, and in the shape of the leaves. One 

 of these was brought to the islands from Hawaii and is still called by the natives 

 "kamutes de Guahii" (Oahu). Some of the earliest navigators mention "batatas" 

 among the supplies received from the natives of Guam, but it is certain that they 

 applied this name to the yam. In picturing the privations of the first missionaries 

 in establishing themselves in Guam, Padre Francisco Garcia mentions that they were 

 obliged to eat certain roots like sweet potatoes, but without the flavor of the Camotes 

 of Mexico. Sweet potatoes were introduced, however, at a very early date by the 



