PLANTS OF SPECIAL INTEREST. 61 



Among the rarer trees are Delonix rer/id, the magnificent flam- 

 boyant; the cabo-negro palm {Saguerus pinnatus); Coelococcus anvica- 

 rum, the ivory nut palm of the Caroline Islands (PI. XLV); the candle 

 nut (Aleurites moluccana), called "kukui" in Hawaii, but here known 

 by its Philippine name, "lumbang;" Pangium edule, called "pangi 

 in the Philippines and "rauel" or "rauwell" on the island of Yap- 

 the jujube tree {Zizyphus jujuba), here called "manzanas" (apples); 

 and Sandoricwm indicum, here called by the Malayan and Philippine 

 name, "santol," the fruit of which has an acid pulp of fine flavor. Of 

 the last species I know of but one tree, which grows on the ranch of 

 Don Jose de Leon Guerrero in the district called Lalo. There are also 

 one or two date palms, but they have not been known to fruit. The 

 occurrence on the island of Canarium commune has been recorded, but 

 the writer has not seen this species. This is the tree called in Manila 

 "brea blanca" (white pitch), which yields the valuable resin known in 

 commerce as Manila "elemi" and the nuts called "pili," or Java 

 almonds. Polynesian chestnuts (Bocoa edulis), avocados {Persea 

 persea), Japanese loquats {Eriobotrya japonica), and navel oranges 

 were introduced by the writer. All of them grew well at first, but the 

 avocados were killed by a heavy rain, and it is not known whether the 

 others are still living. Two trees of mandarin oranges grow in the 

 garden of Don Jose Herrero in the district of San Ramon, Agana, 

 and opposite his house is a vigorous sapodilla tree {Sapota zapotilla). 

 The mandarin trees bear very good fruit, but the sapodilla (here called 

 "chica") has never borne. The durian (Durio zibethinus), the lanzon 

 (Lansium domesticum), so common in the Philippines, and the man- 

 gosteen {Garcinia mangostana) do not occur on the island. Grapes 

 and the edible fig {Ficus carica) have been introduced but do not 

 thrive well. 



PLANTS OF SPECIAL INTEREST. 



UNIDENTIFIED TREES AND SHRUBS. 



' Among the trees and shrubs of the island there are a number men- 

 tioned by early collectors and by the Spanish governors in their official 

 reports which have not yet been identified. It is a well-known fact 

 that many tropical forest trees yielding important commercial woods, 

 resins, gums, balsams, and medicines are not yet known to science. 

 This is in most cases owing to the difficulty of preparing good botan- 

 ical specimens of such plants for the herbarium. In this connection 

 Mr. O. F. Cook, of the United States Department of Agriculture, 

 writes as follows: 



The size itself makes it difficult to observe a tree as a whole or to bring numerous 

 individuals under the eye at once, as may be done with smaller plants. Moreover, 

 trees can not be preserved as complete specimens, and only small fragments can be 

 accommodated for ready reference in the herbarium. Nevertheless, the task may 



