182 USEFUL PLANTS OF GUAM. 



Ammannia coccinea. 



Family Lythraceae. 

 An annual erect glabrous herb growing in damp places, with 4-angled stem and 

 narrowly linear, opposite leaves, which are obtusely cordate-auriculate and dilated 

 at the somewhat clasping base, entire, 2 to 8 cm. long, 2 to 6 mm. wide, flowers 

 small, nearly axillary, 1 to 5 in each axil, sessile; calyx campanulate, with 8 ribs or 

 nerves; petals 4, purple, deciduous, style elongated, very slender; stamens 4 to 8, 

 inserted on the calyx-tube; ovary nearly globular, bursting irregularly. 



Collected in Guam by Lesson, who accompanied Bumont d'Urville on the Astro- 

 labe as naturalist. It occurs also in the United States, Mexico, and Brazil. 



References: 

 Ammannia coccinea. Rottb. PI. Hort. Univ. (Havn. ) Programm. Besc. 7. 1773. 

 Ammannia octandra Cham. & Schlecht. Same as A. coccinea. 

 Ampalea (Philippines). See Momordica cnarantia. 

 Amor seco (Spanish). See Gomphrena globosa. 

 Amores secos (Philippines, Guam). See Andropogon aciculatus. 

 Amot-tomaga or Amot-tumaga (Guam). See Cassia sophera. 

 Anacardiaceae. Cashew family. 



This family is represented in Guam by the introduced Anacardium occidentale and 

 Mangifera indica. 

 Anacardium occidentale. Cashew. Plate xxix. 



Family Anacardiaceae. 



Local names. — Kasue, Kasoy (Guam); Casoy, Kasoe, Balubad, Bol-logo (Philip- 

 pines); Maraiion (Mexico, Cuba, Panama); Pajuil (Porto Rico). 

 A spreading tree with simple, oval, entire leaves, rounded or emarginate at the 

 top, bearing a peculiar fruit, which consists of the enlarged, fleshy peduncle bearing 

 a kidney-shaped nut. The peduncle is pear-shaped, of a yellow or reddish color, 

 astringent when green, but when thoroughly ripe pleasantly acid and edible. The 

 nut is oily and its shell very acrid. When roasted it is edible, the kernel acquiring 

 a pleasant milky flavor. In roasting, the eyes and face should not be exposed to 

 the caustic fumes which rise from the shell. A yellowish oil of a sweet flavor may 

 be expressed from the kernel. The trunk and branches on being abraded yield a 

 transparent gum obnoxious to insects. An acrid oily liquid derived from the shell 

 is used to protect books and furniture from the attacks of insects, and in the 

 Andaman Islands to preserve fishing lines. This tree, which is of great economic 

 importance in tropical America, is not much esteemed by the natives of Guam. 

 They sometimes eat the fruit and roast the nuts, but neither can be called a food 

 staple of the island. Although introduced more than a century ago, it has not spread 

 upon the island and is found only near the houses of natives, where it has been 

 planted, or on the sites of abandoned ranches. 



References : 

 Anacardium occidentale L. Sp. PL 1: 383. 1753. 

 Anagalide azul ( Spanish ) . See Commelina benghalensis and C. nudiflora. 

 Ananas (Spanish). See Ananas ananas. 

 Ananas ananas. Pineapple. 



Family Bromeliaceae. 



Local names. — Pifia (Guam, Philippines); Pina, Ananas (Spanish); Matzatli 



(Mexico). 



A plant with rigid sword-shaped leaves, having the edges armed with spines, and 



bearing the well-known fruit. The flowers have a 6-cleft perianth, with 6 stamens 



band 1 style. The ripe head consists of the thickened rachis, in which the flesh 



erries are imbedded, and the fleshy persistent bracts. The plant produces a singely 



