356 USEFUL PLANTS OF GUAM. 



From the fibrous inner bark of this species the Samoans malie their red, shaggy, 

 rug-like mats and their nets and fishing lines. The fiber is of fine texture and great 

 strength, but diflicult to prepare. In Australia it is known aa the Queensland 

 grass-cloth plant, or native mulberry. It was first collected on Guam by Gaudichaud. 

 The fiber is not utilized on this island. From the allied mamake the Hawaiians 

 made bark-cloth or "tapa." The bark yields a brown dye. 

 References: 

 Pipturus argerdeus (Forst.) Wedd. in DC. Prod. 16': 235". 1869. 

 Urtica argmiea Forst. Prod. 65. 1786. 

 Pipturus propinquus. Same as Pipturus argenteus. 

 Fisang (Philippines). See Musa paradisiaca. 

 Fisonia brunoniana. Same as Pisonia exoelsa. 

 Pisonia exoelsa. 



Family Nyctaginaceae. 



Local nastes. — Umumu, Umumo (Guam); Tak-an (Philippines); Buatea 



(Tahiti). 



A shrub or tree, glabrous or nearly so; leaves opposite or growing in whorls at the 



ends of the branches, more or less coriaceous, oblong or oval, obtuse or pointed at 



the tip, slightly cordate, usually attenuate at the base (15 to 20 cm. or more long by 



4 to 6 cm. wide). Flowers dioecious, growing in terminal or lateral clusters (10 to 15 

 cm. long) I clusters in pairs or in fours on the extremities of the branches, sometimes 

 covered with reddish hairs, or on nodules on the lower parts of the branches; 

 peduncles smooth or pubescent, like the rest of the inflorescence, often elongated 

 and with short ramifications or ^ortened and with longer ramifications. Perianth 

 funnel-shaped, 5 to 6 mm. long, 5-toothed, the fruiting clusters larger than the 

 flowering ones; fruiting perianth, 4 to 5 cm. long by 3 to 4 mm. wide, oblong, with 



5 ribs either smooth or armed with tiny spines, attenuate at the base, claviform at 

 the top, exuding a viscous juice; stamens 6 to 10, of unequal length, protruding; 

 female flowers having a l-celled ovary more or less elongated, with a single erect 

 ovule; style often exserted with a 2-lobed stigma; stigma-lobes pectinate; style of 

 male flowers when present often shorter than the stamens, its stigma lateral, oval, 

 entire, spongy; fruit angular, inclosed in the persistent tube of the perianth, the angles 

 frequently armed with prickly glands, which are sometimes scarcely perceptible. 



This species is quite variable and has been described under several names. It is 

 widely distributed throughout the Paciflc and in tropical Asia. 

 References: 

 Pisonia excelsa Blume, Bijdr. 735. 1826. 



Pisonia wmbellifer,a Seem. ; Nadeaud, Enum. PI. Tahiti, 46. 1873. 

 Pisonia mitis. Same as Pisonia excelsa. 

 Fisonia umbellifera. Same as Pisonia excelsa. 

 Fisum sativum. 

 Peas (Spanish "alverjas") will not grow in Guam. 

 References : 



IHsum sativum L. Sp. PI. 2: 727. 1753. 

 Pithecolobium dulce. Guamachil. 



Family Mimosaceae. 



Local names. — Kamachiles, Camachile (Guam, Philippines); Guamachil, 



Huamachil, Guamachi (Mexico); Manila Tamarind (India). 



Amedium-sized tree introduced into Guam from Mexico, via the Philippines, bearing 



heads of small yellowish-green flowers followed by pods containing seeds embedded 



in a sweet, white, edible pulp or arU. Branches glabrous, pendulous; leaves abruptly 



bipinnate, composed of a single pair of pinnae, each of which has a single pair of 



