330 USEFUL PLANTS OF GUAM. 



On the upper face of this pole a strong knife with a wooden handle is firmly attached 

 by means of a pivot. The handle is attached by a spring to the roof above or the 

 branch of a tree, and by a line or rattan to a treadle below, which can be worked 

 by the foot of the operator. The spring above holds the edge of the knife against 

 the pole or a block with a uniform pressure, while the strip is drawn between it and 

 the pole or block. By means of the treadle the pressure is released. The fineness 

 and whiteness of the fiber is enhanced by drawing the strips several times. This is 

 accompanied by considerable waste, which is in part compensated for by an increase 

 in value of the fiber." 

 References: 

 Musa textilis Nee, Anal. Cienc. Nat, 4: 123. 1801. 

 Mussaenda frondosa. 

 Family Rubiaceae. 



Local names. — Agboy (Philippines); 'Uto'uto, Aloalo-sina, Fau-uta (Samoa); 

 Bovu (Fiji). 



A handsome shrub, with yellow flowers, having one of the divisions of the calyx 

 expanded into a white, leaf-like, petioled appendage. Leaves oblong or ovate- 

 acuminate, opposite or in whorls of three; stipules solitary or in pairs between the 

 petioles; flowers in terminal cymes; bracts and bracteoles deciduous; calyx-tube 

 oblong or turbinate; calyx-teeth 5, deciduous almost immediately after flowering, 

 one modified into a large, white, petioled leaf; corolla tubular, funnel-shaped above, 

 tube silky, throat hairy; lobes 5, broadly ovate, acute or acuminate; stamens 5 on the 

 throat of the corolla, filaments short, anthers linear ;. ovary 2-celled; style filiform; 

 stigmas 2, linear; ovules numerous on peltate fleshy placentas; berry obovoid, glab- 

 rous, fleshy, with a broad areole on the top; seeds minute, testa pitted. 



This plant is of wide tropical distribution, being found in Polynesia, Melanesia, 

 the Malay Archipelago, and India. In Bombay the white leaf-like segment of the 

 calyx is eaten as a vegetable. The white leaves are given in milk as a remedy for 

 jaundice in India, and the root is used as a remedy for leprosy. 

 References: 



Mussaenda frondosa L. Sp. PI. 1: 177. 1753. 

 Mustard (Indian). See Brassica juncea. 

 Mutha (India). See Cyperns rotundus. 

 Myrobalan family. See Combretaceae. 

 Nagao (Guam). 



The vernacular name for a ripe coconut in which the water has become absorbed. 

 Naju (Panama). See Abelmoschus esculentus. 

 Name (Panama). See Dioscorea alala. 

 Namulenga ( Samoa ) . See Yitex trifolia. 

 Nana (Guam). See Lumnitzera Uttorea and L. pedicellate/,. 

 Nana (Guam). See Lumnitzera pedicellata. 

 Nanago (Guam). See Gynopogon torresianus. 

 Nanaso (Guam). See Lobelia koenigii. 

 Nangka (Guam). 



The Phillipine name for the Jak-fruit (Artocarpus integrifolia); in Guam applied to 

 the edible seed of the fertile breadfruit, Artocarpus communis, or "dugdug." 

 Naranjo (Spanish). See Citrus aurantium, and its variety sinensis. 

 Nardo (Guam). Name applied in the island to Atamosco rosea. 



a See Gilmore, Commercial fibers of Philippines. Bur. Agr. [Philippines], Farmers' 

 Bull. No. 4, pp. 11-12, 1903. 



