Flora of Pingelap—S t. John 
99 
plied. As is characteristic among unspoiled Poly¬ 
nesians, Melanesians, and Micronesians, from 
childhood on, every person knows the name and 
uses of essentially every plant in the flora. For 
several of the plants information was obtained 
as to their economic or ethnic uses. For some of 
the economic or crop plants, such as Cyrto - 
sperma, Colocasia, and Pandanus, this informa¬ 
tion was extensive and detailed. The natives 
recognize, name, and keep distinct numerous 
cultivated varieties. Names for these varieties, 
as well as for the species themselves, were ob¬ 
tained. Together, they make a total of 80 
names, and as examples of the Pingelap lan¬ 
guage have some importance. Each one has 
been studied to determine whether it appears 
in identical or modified form as a descriptive 
word or phrase in the languages of the Mar¬ 
shalls, Kusaie, Ponape, or Truk. Surprisingly, 
this study shows little in common with any of 
these languages, and the few identities seem 
mere coincidences. For instance, "mesawsol” is 
a cultivated variety of Colocasia in Pingelap, 
while in Kusaie the word "meza-oual” (Lesson, 
1839:516) means the last quarter of the moon. 
Some community of significance is possible but 
seems improbable. This was the only word that 
seemed to suggest an identity. 
ALPHABET 
The plant names were recorded as heard. No 
preconceived theory of the language was used 
or convention adopted that one letter should 
represent several different sounds. The words 
were written down as they sounded to an 
American. No difficulty was experienced in re¬ 
cording the consonants, but a little was with the 
vowels. As indicated in the following table, 
vowels without any mark represent a long vowel, 
while the short vowels were marked, as in a. 
Vowels used in Recording of Pingelap 
Vocabulary 
a—-as a in father 
a—as a in h^zt 
e—as a in s^y 
e—as e in bet 
i—as ee in keep 
i—as i in bit 
o —as o in snow 
6—-as o in pop 
u—as u in r^le 
u—~as u in duck 
ETHNOBOTANY 
The flora of Pingelap Island, as here re¬ 
corded, includes 57 species, falling into the fol¬ 
lowing groups: 
Indigenous . 32 
Crop plant and cultivated or introduced 
economic trees ...................................... 12 
Ornamentals .. 10 
Adventive weeds .. 3 
Total 57 
Of the 57 Pingelap plants all but five are now 
known to occur on the Marshall Islands. The 
ones lacking are nos. 19, 21, 23, 26, and 29 of 
the list which follows. Though the Marshalls 
lie some distance to the east, the nearest, 
Ujelang Atoll, being 243 miles to the north, 
and the most remote, Pokaakku, being 805 
miles away, still they are all atolls or coral 
islands, and, as is well known, have a flora 
mostly of wide-ranging species. 
Of the 57 Pingelap plants, 42 are also known 
on Kusaie. The species missing there are nos. 
8, 10, 12, 17, 21, 23, 26, 28, 32, 43, 44, 45, 48, 
50, and 52. Four of these are cultivated orna¬ 
mentals, and one an introduced weed, so their 
absence is not significant. Then, too, the flora 
of Kusaie is not as completely known as that of 
some of the other Caroline Islands. 
Of the 57 Pingelap plants, 41 are also known 
on Ponape. The species missing are nos. 8, 
10, 12, 16, 17, 19, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 32, 34, 
45, 48, and 50. These include three cultivated 
ornamentals and one introduced weed. 
Of the 57 Pingelap plants, 46 are also known 
on Truk. The species missing are nos. 6, 7, 8, 
17, 24, 25, 26, 27, 36, 48, and 52. These include 
two cultivated ornamentals and three weeds. 
It is quite possible that more intensive explo¬ 
ration and collecting on Kusaie and Ponape will 
