DESCEIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 223 



blunt; stamens 5, included, inserted above the middle of the corolla-tube; filaments 

 longer than the anthers, puberulous below, entire, or bearing a tooth above the base; 

 berry ovoid-oblong. 



The odor of the flowers is very penetrating. At a distance it resembles that of 

 valerian, but at close range it is rank and overpowering, whence the name Oestrum 

 foetidissimum applied to this species by Jacquin. This plant is of West Indian origin; 

 it is widely cultivated in the Tropics. It was introduced into Guam many years ago 

 from the Philippines. A large bush of it grows on each side of the door of the 

 church at Agana, the odor from which at night is diffused over the greater part, of 

 the city. 



References: 



Oestrum nocturnum L. Sp. PL 1: 191. 1753. 

 Oestrum pallidum. Inkberry. 



Local names. — Tintan-China, i. e., " Chinese-ink berry" (Guam). 

 A glabrous shrub 1.5 to 2.5 meters high. Branches terete; leaves alternate, ellip- 

 tical-oblong or oblong-ovate, blunt-pointed, petiolate, green above, paler beneath, 

 glabrous, 5 to 10 cm. long by 3.5 cm. broad; racemes cymose, with rather long 

 peduncles, axillary and terminal; flowers nearly sessile, small, about 12 mm. long; 

 corolla tubular, clavate, the lobes very short, rounded, recurved; stamens 5 or 6, 

 included, alternating with the corolla lobes, inserted near the throat, filaments 

 usually about as. long as the anthers; pistil 1, style long and slender, slightly 

 exserted, stigma capitate; berry ovoid, fleshy, about the size of a poke berry, filled 

 with purple juice, few-seeded; calyx campanulate, 5-toothed, the teeth short and 

 rounded, ciliolate. 



I am not quite certain as to the identity of this plant. It corresponds very closely 

 with the description given by Grisebach of Oestrum pallidum Lam.« In Guam the 

 flowers are white. They are day-blooming and have a slight fragrance of C. noctur- 

 num. In De Candolle's Prodromus it is stated that the berries are poisonous, but 

 this is probably a mistake, since they are an important article of food for the pigeons 

 and other fruit-eating birds of Guam, by means of which the plant has been spread 

 all over the island. It is of comparatively recent introduction. None of the early 

 collectors mention it. The berries of the allied Oestrum lanatum of Mexico yield a 

 black dye. 



References: 



Oestrum 'pallidum Lam. Encyc. 1: 688. 1783. 

 Ceylon moss. See Gracilaria confervoides under Algse. 

 Cha. The name in Guam for tea. 

 Cha cimarron (Philippines). See Ehretia microphylla. 

 Chaca (Guam), Nephrolepis acuta. See under Ferns. 

 Chaetochloa gdauca aurea. Golden foxtail. 



Family Poaceae. 

 A pale-green, erect, annual grass, having a simple, dense, cylindrical, spike-like 

 panicle. Spikelets articulated on very short pedicels, 1 or 2 flowered, ovate; glumes 

 awnless; first empty glume short; flowering glume and palea obtuse, finally hard 

 and shining or tranversely wrinkled; numerous involucral bristles under each 

 spikelet. A cosmopolitan grass with flat leaves scabrous on the edges and often ciliate 

 with a few long hairs, common in waste places and in the borders of cultivation; 

 good for fodder. Collected in Guam by Lesson. 



References: 



Chaetochloa glauca aurea (Hochst. ). 

 Setaria aurea Hochst. A. Br. Flora. 24: 276. 1841. 



Setaria glauca aurea K. Sch. in K. Sch. & Laut., Fl. Deutsch. Schutzgeb. in 

 der Siidsee 180. 1901. 



« Grisebach, Flora of the British West Indies, p. 443, 1864. 



