'670 USEFUL PLANTS OF GUAM. 



extremities of the branches, elliptic-oblong, acute; primary veins thick, petioles 

 downy; flowers whitish, pedicellate in the axils; calyx segments 6, in 2 distinct 

 series; corolla 6-lobed. The fruit is a little larger than an egg. It is covered by a 

 rough brown skin and contains a yellowish pulp with 4 or 5 black seeds. It is not 

 eaten until thoroughly ripe, when it is sugary and very sweet. ■ 



This species is allied to the star-apple of the West Indies (Chrysophyllurn cainito). 

 It was introduced into Guam about thirty years ago. The few trees now growing on 

 the island appear to thrive, but they seldom bear fruit. A fine tree grows in San 

 Ramon, near the southern boundary of Agana, opposite the house of Don Jose Herrero. 

 In the markets of Manila the fruit is common. In the United States the cultivation 

 of this tree is limited to southern Florida. The tree yields a latex, which is boiled 

 down until it assumes the consistency of gutta-percha, to which it is allied. It is 

 called chicle in Mexico, and is the basis of the chewing gum so widely used in the 

 United States. 

 References: 

 Sapota zapotilla ( Jacq.) Coville. 

 Achras sapota L. Sp. PL ed. 2. 1: 470. 1762. Not Achras zapota L. Sp. PL 2: 



1190. 1753. 

 Achras zapota zapotilla Jacq. Select. Stirp. Am. Hist. 57. 1763. 



The genus Achras (L. Sp. PL 2: 1190. 1753; L. Gen. PL ed. 5. 497. 1754) was based 

 by Linnseus on Plumier's genus Sapota, but only one of Plunder's two species was 

 enumerated by Linnseus in 1753. This species, Achras zapota, being the only Achras 

 in the first edition of Linnaeus' Species Plantarum, is the type of that genus. An 

 unfortunate confusion of names was introduced by Linnaeus in the second edition of 

 his Species Plantarum, in 1762, when he changed the name of his Achras zapota of 

 1753 to Achras mammosa, transferring the former name, Achras zapota, to another 

 species under a modified spelling Achras sapota. The nomenclatorial misunderstand- 

 ings thus originated are easily and definitely dispelled by an application of the rule 

 of priority and the principle of generic types. The name Achras zapota is restored to 

 its original use, and since the second species, called Achras sapota, does not belong to 

 the same genus as the first, a new generic name must be found. This nomenclatorial 

 vacancy is filled by Sapota, published by Miller, Gard. Diet. ed. 7. 1759, who includes 

 both species, but his first and the type of the genus is the one described above. The 

 specific name, sapota, is not tenable on account of the earlier Achras zapota of 1753, 

 and as Miller did not propose a binomial name for the species, the subspecific name 

 zapotilla, proposed by Jacquin in 1763, is adopted. — Frederick A 7 . Coville. 

 Sapotilla plum. See Sapota zapotilla. In Guam and the Philippines it is called 



"chico." 

 Sappan-wood. See Biancaea sappan. 

 Sarasa (Philippines). See GrdptophyUum picium. 

 Saromo (Philippines). See Achyranthes aspera. 

 Saucer leaf. See Nothopanax cochleatum. 

 Sauco (Spanish). See Prernna, gaudichaudii. 

 Savanna plants. 



The upland regions devoid of forest growth are known in Guam as "sabanas" 

 or " savannas.'' The highest mountains of the island scarcely exceed 1,000 feet in 

 height, and there is no distinctive vegetation on the high land. The soil consists 

 chiefly of red clay, which is impervious to water and is incapable of drainage. 

 Among the plants growing there are a number of strand plants and marsh plants 

 which love the sun and will not grow in shaded localities. Most of the savannas are 

 covered with a growth of sword-grass or "neti" (Xipheagrostis floridula), with a 



