The Solomon Islands and Their Natives Part 37

Elatostemma integrifolium, Wedd.?

Elatostemma? vulgo "Obu-obu."

Procris integrifolia, Don??

Pellionia sp...

Leucosyke an L. corymbulosa? Coast tree fifteen feet high.

Pipturus velutinus, Wedd? v. P. argenteus? vulgo "Dilipoa." A tree thirty to fifty feet high; trunk partially ringed; aerial roots.

CONIFERae.

Gnetum Gnemon, L. vulgo "Mariwa."

Gnetum sp...: vulgo "Kunuka." A tree sixty feet high, prominently ringed. Kernels of fruits eaten by the natives.

CASUARINEae.

Casuarina angustifolia F.

ORCHIDEae.

Dendrobium hispidum, Rich. (fide F. v. Mueller).

Dendrobium sp... near D. dactylodes, R. fil?

Clogyne sp...

Cleisostoma sp...

SCITAMINEae.

Alpinia sp... vulgo "Karu."

Alpinia sp... vulgo "Vitoko."

Alpinia sp... vulgo "Konkoku."

Costus or Alpinia sp... vulgo "Makisa."

Alpinia Boia, Seem? v. sp. aff. vulgo "Pai-yang-pipiula."

Riedelia curviflora, Oliv? vulgo "Kokuru."

Canna indica, L.? vulgo "Sati."

Marantacea aff. Phrynio? vulgo "Sinoili." Flowers in two collateral pairs in each spathe with linear bracts between the pairs. Ovary shortly stipitate, ovule erect. Fruit 3-locular, cells 1-seeded, seeds with crustaceous muricate testa.

Heliconia? vulgo "Kiari." Clinogyne grandis Bth and Hook? (near C.

dichotoma and affs) vulgo "Nini."

Scitaminea (dub): vulgo "Temuli." A plant 1 to 1 feet high growing in the waste ground of plantations. The roots have medicinal properties, according to the accounts of the natives, and they have a yellow juice which is used for staining.

Scitaminea (dubia): vulgo "Nakia:" a wild ginger.

AMARYLLIDEae.

Crinum sp... vulgo "Papau." Grows near the beach. Height four feet.

Curculigo sp... vulgo "Bulami." Growing 2 to 2 feet high on the banks of streams.

LILIACEae.

Cordyline sp... vulgo "Dendiki." Tree twenty feet high; growing near the coast.

COMMELYNACEae.

Commelyna nudiflora, L.

DIOSCOREae.

Dioscorea sativa, L.? vulgo "Alapa."

JUNCACEae.

Flagellaria indica, L. var.

TACCACEae.

Tacca pinnatifida, Forst.: vulgo "Mamago." The natives do not appear to make use of the arrowroot-like starch obtainable from the tubers.

PANDANACEae.

Pandanacea: genus novum,[434](? flowers only and leaf collected).

The only locality where I found it was the summit of Faro Island, where it grows to a height of fifty feet, and has a long white female branching spadix, three to four feet in length. The same, or a near ally, was obtained by Signor Beccari in Jobi Island, off New Guinea. (_Vide_ page 289.)

[434] I learn from Professor Oliver that Count Solins confirms the generic distinctness.

The natives distinguish several species of Panda.n.u.s trees, of which I was only able to obtain the fruit. The "daras.h.i.+" "sararang," and "pota," grow at the coast, and have a height of from thirty to forty feet. The "daras.h.i.+" has narrow leaves, and, if the ground is not rocky, aerial roots are often absent: the fruit is smaller than that of the two other littoral panda.n.u.s trees. The "sararang" has broad leaves, and always aerial roots: the fruit is often more than a foot in diameter. The "pota" has broad leaves, with contracted ac.u.minate apices, two inches long: the fruit is about a foot in diameter: aerial roots are always present, and rise often fifteen feet from the ground. The segments of these panda.n.u.s trees all contain edible kernels. The broad leaves of the "pota" are employed in making mats... . There is another panda.n.u.s tree, the "samala" of the natives, which often grows away from the coast, as on the banks of streams: it has an erect, stout trunk, thirty-five to forty feet high, without aerial roots, and does not branch.

Freycinetia sp...

Freycinetia sp...

Nipa fruticans.

PALMACEae.