10 
PACIFIC SCIENCE, Vol. XII, January, 1958 
the possibility of the establishment of drift 
nuts is not denied. In all probability the 
present seedling was from progeny of trees 
introduced by early human visitors to Pagan, 
indicating that the horizon in which it occurs 
may be rather recent. 
ARACEAE 
Alocasia macrorrhiza (L.) Schott 
PC-43-1 (a-f), 2, 3, 5 
A very well-preserved mold of a petiole, a 
fragment of the upper part of a petiole, vari- 
ous badly crushed and damaged petiole frag- 
ments and a stipule, not especially well pre- 
served. Some of these petiole fragments would 
have been quite unidentifiable by themselves 
but were recognized when associated with the 
other better preserved parts (Fig. 8). 
This plant is found throughout the Pacific 
islands wherever man has carried it. It has 
not been found where it could not readily 
have been originally planted by man. The 
aborigines in many islands are said to utilize 
it as a famine food, though it is not very 
palatable. It has no obvious means of getting 
around unaided, but once established persists 
and multiplies rather successfully. 
Its presence in this fossil flora is distinctly 
surprising. It indicates that the eruption pro- 
ducing the tuff, which preserved the remains, 
occurred after the earliest visits by man to the 
island. 
LILIACEAE 
? Dianella ensiformis (L.) DC. 
PC-85-1, PC-85-2, ID2(F)-3, 4 
Leaf blade impressions and fragments of 
impressions. Where the outline is preserved 
these taper more strongly than in Miscanthus; 
where venation is evident there is a prominent 
midrib and fine even venation, the veins of 
equal thickness, between 3 and 4 per mm. 
(Fig. 9). 
This is not known from Pagan as a living 
plant, though it may well have been over- 
looked. It is common elsewhere in the Mari- 
anas in swordgrass vegetation on volcanic 
soils, especially on old erosion scars and 
around rocky places. 
ORCHIDACEAE 
? Spathoglottis micronesiaca Schltr. 
ID2(F)-7 
A reasonably well-preserved impression of 
a leaf fragment showing strong plication of 
about the magnitude of that shown by this 
species, the width and what remains of the 
shape, also, being correct. The specimen is 
3 cm. wide and has just under 3 plications 
per cm. (Fig. 10). 
This species is common in the grassland in 
the volcanic portions of Guam. It is not 
known at present on Pagan unless a pink- 
flowered plant noted but not collected by 
Bonham is it. 
Fig. 8. Alocasia macrorrhiza , stipule. 
