DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 399 



Weeds. See page 151. 



Weissia. See Mosses. 



Wild elder. See Premna gaudichaudii. 



Wild ginger. See Zinziber zerumbet. 



Wild ipecac (Hawaii). See Asclepias curassavica. 



Wild mangosteen. See Sandoricum indicum. 



Wild olive (Jamaica). See Ximehia americana. 



Wild orange. See .Citrus aurantium. 



Wild yam (Guam). See Dioscorea spinosa. 



Wire fern. See Lygodium scandens, under Ferns. 



Wire vine. See Cassytha filiformis. 



Witchleaf . See Bryophyllum pinnatum. 



Wollastonia oinora DC. Same as Stemmodontia bifl.ora. 



Wollastonia canescens DC. Same as Stemmodontia canescens. 



Wollastonia scabriuseula DC. Same as Stemmodontia biflora. 



Woodsorrel. See Oxalis corniculata. 



Wormwood. See Artemisia vulgaris. 



Ximenia americana. False sandalwood. 



Family Olacineae. 



Local names. — Pi'od, Piut (Guam); Moli-tai (Samoa); Somisomi, Tomi-tomi 

 (Fiji); Jfa manzanilla, Ciruelo cirnarron (Cuba); Wild olive (Jamaica); Hog 

 plum, Seaside plum (West Indies). 

 A shrub or small tree bearing an edible, spherical, orange-colored drupe, flavored 

 like a bitter almond and tasting somewhat like a crab apple. Branches thorny, spread- 

 ing, glabrous, covered with a red astringent bark, often ending in a spine; young 

 shoots angular; leaves shortly petioled, alternate, simple, 2.5 cm. wide by 3 cm. long 

 and upward, coriaceous, glabrous, ovate-oblong or roundish , emarginate, base rounded ; 

 flowers 2.5 to 7.6 cm. long, usually hermaphrodite, sometimes polygamous, white, 

 fragrant, in short racemes, which are axillary or on the ends of thickened contracted 

 shoots; rachis terete, 4 to 6-flowered; bracts • minute ; buds oblong, acute; calyx 

 minute, 4 or 5-toothed; petals 4 or 5, oblong, hairy within, equal to the stamens in 

 length; stamens twice the number of the petals, borne at the base of the ovary; 

 anthers linear, 2-celled; ovary sessile, superior, ovoid-oblong, glabrous, surrounded 

 at the base by the persistent, ultimately reflexed calyx; style as long as the stamens. 

 Of wide distribution throughout the Tropics. In Guam the fruit is much relished 

 by the fruit pigeons. The wood is hard and is sometimes used as a substitute for 

 sandalwood. 



References : 

 Ximenia americana L. Sp. PL 2: 1193. 1753. 

 Ximenia elliptica Forst. Same as Ximenia americana. 

 Xiphagrostis floridula. Sword grass. Plate lxix. 



Family Poaceae. 



Local names. — Nete, Neti, Tupun-neti (Guam); Ngasau, Vitavita (Fiji); Kakao 

 (Earotonga); Fiso (Samoa); Non kai (Kaiser Wilhelmsland). 

 A tall perennial grass with terminal feathery panicles, growing in damp places and 

 also covering large tracts on the hills, called "sabanas." Leaves long and flat, the 

 edges armed with minute sharp teeth; spikelets in pairs on the joints of the rachis, 

 one pedicelled, the other nearly sessile, awned, with a cluster of silky hairs rising 

 from the base of both, giving to the panicle its feathery appearance; glumes 4. This 

 grass resembles the "cogon" (Imperata arundinacea) of the Philippines, which cov- 



