DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 195 



Bambos sp.? Smooth bamboo. 



Local names. — Piao, Piao palaoan (Guam); Cana hem bra (Spanish). 

 A large bamboo without spines; stems growing to 4 inches or more in diameter; 

 branches numerous. Inferior to the preceding in hardness and durability, and sub- 

 ject to the attacks of insects. The canes are used for water vessels, fences, frame 

 poles for ranches and houses, and when split into widths of an inch or more they are 

 used for floors and sleeping platforms in the poorer kinds of houses and in ranches. 

 Troughs for collecting water from roofs and drinking troughs for fowls are made by 

 splitting the canes and removing the septa. The identity of this plant has not been 

 established. It may possibly be a species of Schizostachyum. Gaudichaud, in the 

 report of the botany of the Freycinet expedition mentions Bambos bambos Wight 

 (Arundo bambos L., Bambusa arundinacea Willd. ) as occurring on the island, but this 

 is probably a mistake. The vernacular name signifies "female bamboo," to distin- 

 guish it from the species armed with spines. The durability of both species is 

 increased by soaking the split canes in water for a week or two and then drying 

 them thoroughly. They are springy and elastic. Platforms of them with mats 

 spread over them make very comfortable beds. 



Bambusa. See Bambos. 



Banago (Guam). See Jasminum marianum. 



Banalo (Philippines). See Cordia subcordata. 



Banana. See Musa paradisiaca. 



Bangcoang bdndok (Philippines) . See Pandanus dubius. 



Bangil (Visayan). See Sophora tomeritosa. 



Bantigui (Philippines). See Pemphis acidula. 



Banyan. See Ficus sp. 



Baong (Philippines). See Dioscorea saliva. 



Barbados pride. See Poinciana pulcherrima. 



Barringtonia butonica. Same as Barringtonia speciosa. 



Barringtonia racemosa. 



Local names. — Langaasag, Langasat, Langat (Guam); Potat (Philippines); 

 Putat (Malay); Du'ra (Andamans) ; Samutra-pullum (India). 



A tree having pendant racemes of flowers; petals 4, white or rose-tinted; calyx 2 

 or 3-cleft; filaments of the stamens longer than the petals; style long; fruit ovate, 

 bluntly 4-angled, smooth, brownish-red; leaves oblong, acuminate, wedge-shaped at 

 the base, crenate or obscurely serrate. 



This species is common in Guam near the sea and along the banks of streams. It 

 is not utilized by the natives. In India, however, according to Major Drury, the 

 seed is used as a fish intoxicant, and the powdered fruit is applied externally in com- 

 bination with other remedies for sore throat and cutaneous eruptions. 



From the seed of an allied species of the Malay Peninsula, called ' ' putat gajah ' ' 

 by the natives, a starchy food is derived which is eaten by certain tribes. The ker- 

 nels of the seeds are grated on a piece of thorny stem of a rattan (Calamus). Water 

 is added and a milky juice is squeezed out of the pulp, resembling the milk expressed 

 from grated coconut. This milky liquid is allowed to stand in boat-shaped dishes 

 made of palm sheaths. A starchy substance is deposited and the water carefully 

 drawn off. The deposit is made into cakes, which are roasted and eaten. If eaten 

 without having been washed the gratings cause sickness. « The name ' ' putat, ' ' applied 



"See Ridley, H. N. Barringtonia seed as a Sakai food, Agricultural Bull, of the 

 Straits and Federated Malay States, vol. 2, p. 165, 1903. 



