DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 187 



near the houses of the natives. Among them are Aralia guilfoylei, Nolhopanax fruti- 

 cosum, and Nolhopanax cocldeatum. 



Ararao, Araro, Ararii (Philippines). See Maranta arundinacea. 

 Arbol del fuego (Philippines, Guam) . See Delonix regia. 

 Ardisia. Same as Icacorea. 



Areca cathecu. Betelnut. Plate xxxv. 



Family Phoenicaceae. 



Local names. — Pugua (Guam); Pua (Banda); Puah, Buah (Amboina); Puak, 

 Poak (Ceylon); Boa (Duke of York Island, Solomon Group); Bue (New 

 Britain); Boa (Bali); Bua (Pelew Islands ) ; Boiiga, Bunga, Luyos (Philippines); 

 Gua, Gooa (Bengal); Pinang (Modern Malay). 



A palm introduced into Guam in prehistoric times, but not indigenous on the 

 island, and planted by the natives for the sake of its aromatic seeds, which are gen- 

 erally called "betel nuts." The trunk is tall and slender and ringed; leaves glabrous, 

 pinnate, the segments narrowly lanceolate, acuminate, plicate, with margins recurved 

 at the base, the upper ones confluent and bifid or truncate and many-parted; rachis 

 3-sided, the upper face acute, the back convex, the base and petiole concave; 

 sheaths elongated; spadix with spreading branches at length pendent; spathes sev- 

 eral, papery, the lowest complete, the upper ones bract-like; flowers white and very 

 fragrant; fruit a one-seeded, orange-colored drupe or nut about the size of a small 

 hen's egg, with outer fibrous husk, astringent, pungent, and aromatic, with a flavor 

 and consistency somewhat like that of a nutmeg. It hangs in long bunches below 

 the dark -green leaves. 



In Guam this species is found in abundance growing in damp woods and along the 

 margins of streams. The nut is held in great esteem by the natives, who chew it 

 together with the leaf of the betel pepper ( Piper betle), a plant having properties akin 

 to those of Piper methysticum,. the kava plant of Polynesia. 



The nut is divided and a piece of it is wrapped in the pepper leaf, together with a 

 pinch of quicklime. It imparts a red color to the saliva, so that the lips and teeth 

 appear to be covered with blood and in time become blackened. It injures the teeth 

 and sometimes almost destroys them. Children begin to chew it at an early age. 

 Old men and women are frequently seen with their teeth reduced from its habitual 

 use to mere blackened snags. The odor imparted, by it to the breath is aromatic 

 and not disagreeable unless tobacco be mixed with it, a custom practiced by some 

 natives, but not a common one. The nut is called either "pugua," or by its Taga- 

 log name "boiiga;" the leaf is called "pupulu," or by the Visayan name "buyo," 

 and the packet made up for chewing is called "mamao." 



In Guam betel chewing is a matter of etiquette at all wedding assemblies, fandan- 

 gos, and funerals. Nuts deprived of their fibrous envelopes, fresh pepper leaves, and 

 quicklime, together with cigars, are passed around to the assembled guests. 



According to Jahns, arecaine, the active principle of the areca nut, is a powerful 

 agent for destroying tapeworms, resembling in its action pelletierine, an aromatic, 

 oily alkaloid obtained from the bark of the pomegranate. Like nicotine it is poison- 

 ous, half a grain sufficing to kill a rabbit in a few moments. It influences the respi- 

 ration as well as the heart, causes tetanic convulsions, and has an extraordinary 

 influence in increasing intestinal peristalsis. Locally applied or when given internally 

 it contracts the pupils." In India the nut has long been used as a vermifuge, the 

 dose being a teaspoonful of the freshly grated kernel. Throughout the Malay Archi- 

 pelago the nut is of great commercial importance. 

 References: 

 Areca cathecu L. Sp. PI. 2: 1189. 1753. (Often written Areca catechu.) 



«See Alkaloide der Arekanuss, in Bruhl's Pflanzen-Alkaloide, p. 33, 1900. 



