392 USEFUL PLANTS OF GUAM. 



3-celled, narrowed into a slender deciduous style; stigma obtuse or capitate and 

 3-lobed; ovules solitary in each cell; berry ovoid, 1 to 3-celled, 1 to 3-seeded, gland- 

 dotted; seeds oblong, immersed in mucilage, testa coriaceous. 



This plant should not be confused with Citrus trifoliata of Japan. The fragrance 

 of the flowers suggests that of the hyacinth. The fruit is bittersweet and has the 

 flavor of Curacao liqueur, or orange marmalade. It is agreeable if eaten in small 

 quantities, but is mucilaginous and astringent, and one soon tires of it. The natives 

 make very good dulces of it, which are said to be constipating if eaten in any quan- 

 tity. In the East Indies a liqueur is made by soaking the berries in brandy for 

 several years. Fruit pigeons (Ptilinopus roseicapillus and PMegoenas xanthonura) are 

 very fond of the berries. The plants send up shoots from the root very much after 

 the manner of lemons and limes. They consequently make excellent hedges and 

 have a tendency to spread. The spines are straight and rigid. Where hedges have 

 been abandoned the lemoncito forms dense, impenetrable thickets. The wood is 

 very hard and is difficult to cut, so that several hours may be necessary to open a 

 path a few meters in length through such a thicket. Although the plant grows 

 usually in the form of a shrub about a meter and a half high, yet on the east side of 

 the island there are thickets in which it assumes the form of trees 3 to 4 meters high. 

 Tool handles are sometimes made of the wood, and it is excellent for fuel. The 

 natives make fagots of the stems and branches, which are very convenient for the 

 earth-covered cooking benches of the island. 

 References: 



Triphasics trifoliata (L.) DC. Prod. 1: 536. 1824. 

 Limonia trifoliata L. Mant. 2: 237. 1771. 

 Triumfetta fabreana Gaudich. Same as Triumfetta procumbens. 

 Triumfetta lappula Gaudich. Same as Triumfetta rhomboidea. 

 Triumfetta pilosa. Great burweed. 



Family Tiliaceae. 

 Local names. — Masigsig lahe, Dadangsi, Dadanse (Guam). 



A herbaceous, hairy or bristly weed with yellow flowers in dense cymes. Lower 

 leaves 3-lobed, stellate-hairy on both sides; upper leaves 9 or 10 cm. long by 6 cm. 

 broad, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, unequally toothed; petiole 2 cm. long, villous; 

 stipules subulate-aristate, shorter than the petiole; peduncles shorter than the petiole; 

 flowers 2 cm. long; sepals 5, linear, apiculate; petals 5, oblong, spathulate, scarcely 

 shorter than the sepals, ciliate at the base; stamens about 10; fruit globose, tomentose, 

 covered with long, hooked spines, which are glabrous along the upper and hispid 

 along the lower edge, about the size of a cherry (including the spines) ,4-celled, 

 4 or 8-seeded. 



The bur-like fruits readily adhere to objects which come into contact with them. 

 The vernacular name signifies "to stick," or "anything which adheres." 

 References: 



Triumfetta pilosa Roth, Nov. PI. Sp. 223. 1821. 

 Triumfetta procumbens. Seaside burweed. 



Local names. — Masigsig hembra (Guam); Mautofu-tai (Samoa). 



A procumbent weed usually growing near the strand, with tomentose-woolly 

 ascending branches and small yellow flowers. Leaves subrotund-cordate, subtri- 

 lobed, obtusely serrate, tomentose-hairy; peduncles axillary, 3-fid; sepals 5, linear; 

 petals 5, oblong, obtuse, attenuate at the base; stamens numerous; capsule echinate, 

 3 or 4-celled, 2-ovuled. 



This plant was collected in Guam by Gaudichaud and figured in the botany of 

 Freycinet's expedition as a new species, T. fabreana. a It is also found in the Admir- 

 es Plate 102, p. 478, 1826. 



