218 USEFUL PLANTS OF GUAM. 



resembling that of prunes. When the wind blows the pendulous pods strike 

 together and make a rattling noise. 



This tree is said to be a native of upper Egypt and India, whence it has been 

 introduced into nearly all tropical countries. It has been growing in Guam at least 

 a century, but, like the tamarind, does not reproduce itself here spontaneously. 

 The wood is hard and heavy, but the natives do not utilize it. It is found growing 

 in many places on the sites of abandoned ranches. In Honolulu it is one of the 

 principal shade trees and is highly prized for the beauty of its flowers. 



The pulp is a valuable laxative, and is much used in medicine. It is apt to 

 become sour if long exposed to the air, or moldy if kept in a damp place. It is 

 extracted from the pods by bruising them and then boiling them in water, after 

 which the decoction is evaporated. It may be obtained from fresh pods by opening 

 them at the sutures and removing the pulp with a spatula. The pulp has a sweet, 

 mucilaginous taste. It contains sugar, gum, a substance analogous to tannin, a color- 

 ing matter soluble in ether, traces of a principle resembling gluten, and a little water. 

 It may be advantageously given in small doses in cases of habitual costiveness 

 (4 to 8 gm. ), and in doses of one or tw T o ounces (30 to 60 gm. ) it acts as a purgative. a 

 References: 



Cassia fistula L. Sp. PI. 1: 377. 1753. 

 Cassia mimosoides. Tea senna. 



Local names. — Kobo-cha, Nemu-cha, Ichinen-cha (Japan). 



A low diffuse perennial, with slender, shrubby, finely downy branches. Leaves 

 resembling those of the sensitive plant, 2.5 to 7.5 cm. long, w T ith a solitary sessile 

 gland on the rachis below the leaflets; leaflets 60 to 100, linear, rigidly coriaceous, 

 3 to 3.5 mm. long, obliquely mucronate, with the midrib close to the upper 

 border; stipules large, linear-subulate, persistent; flowers yellow, 1 or 2 in the axils 

 of the leaves on short pedicels; sepals lanceolate-acuminate, bristly; corolla little 

 exserted; stamens 10, alternately longer and shorter; pod strap-shaped, flat, dehis- 

 cent, 3.5 to 5 cm. long by 3.5 mm. broad, nearly straight, glabrescent or finely downy; 

 septa more or less oblique. 



In Japan, where it grows both wild and in cultivation, the young stem and leaves 

 are cut and dried as a substitute for tea. 

 References: 



Cassia mimosoides L. Sp. PL 1 : 379. 1753. 

 Cassia occidentalis. Coffee senna. Negro coffee. 



Local names. — Mumutun sable (Guam); Balatong aso (Philippines); Frijo- 

 lillo (Panama); Hierba hedionda (Cuba); Hedionda (Porto Rico); Bantamare 

 (Senegal); Herbe puante (French). 



A glabrous, ill-smelling weed, 60 to 90 cm. high, with abruptly pinnate leaves, hav- 

 ing a single large ovate gland just above the base of the petiole. Leaflets 4 to 6 pairs, 

 without glands between them, ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate, rounded at the base, 

 acute, 2.5 to 7.5 cm. long, glabrous on both sides, or finely pubescent; flowers yellow, 

 pedicelled; racemes short, closely crowded, axillary; stamens 10, the upper 3 imper- 

 fect; calyx lobes oblong, obtuse, glabrous; pod linear, glabrous, 10 to 12.5 cm. long 

 by 2.5 to 7.5 cm. broad, somewhat curved, its margins thickened. 



This plant is of wide distribution in the Tropics, and in the warmer temperate 

 regions of the globe. It was introduced into Guam more than a century ago, and is 

 common in abandoned clearings, in waste places, and along the beach. 



The seeds, sometimes called ' ' negro coffee, ' ' are used in some parts of the world as 

 a substitute for coffee and are said to be a febrifuge. In Senegambia an infusion of 

 the roasted seeds having an agreeable flavor not unlike coffee is used by the natives. 

 This plant has been used as a remedy for stomach troubles, nervous asthma, and 



« United States Dispensatory, p. 341, 1899. 



