atoll research bulletin no. 392 the flora of - Smithsonian Institution ...

Heliotropium procumbens Mill. var. depressum (Cham .) Fosb . & Sachet "heliotrope"
syns. H. gracile var. depressum Cham. ; H. corornandelianurn var. depressurn
(Cham.) A. DC.; H. ovalijolium Forsk. var. depressum (Cham.) Men.
Indigenous. Trop. America. Rare. Prostrate branched perennial herb with a stout
taproot; leaves, up to 3 cm long and mostly 3 to 6 mm wide, greenish-gray, pubescent,
oblanceolate or linear-oblong, subsessile; flowers, only moderately crowded, rather
sparsely pubescent, borne on one-sided coiled spikes on slender forked stalks (cincinni),
5 to 6 cm long; calyx lobes, unequal, longest to nearly 3 mm, lanceolate; corolla, 1.5 to
2 mm long, 5-lobed, white; fruit, globose, breaking into 2 to 4 1-seeded nutlets, about 1
mm high. Found on coastal strip near limestone outcrops? 4(l4 1 N), 7(223 16).
Tournefortia argentea L. f. "beach heliotrope"
irin (N); te ren (K); tausunu, tauhunu (T)
syns. Messerschmidiu argentea (L. f.) I. M. Johnst. ; Argusia argentea (L. f.)
Heine; Tourncfortia sericea Cham.
Indigenous. Indian Ocean to S.E. Polynesia. Common. Small to medium-sized,
wide-spreading, short-trunked tree, 2 to 12 m tall, with rather stout twigs and deeply
grooved bark; leaves, 10 to 30 cm long and 3 to 12 cm wide, alternate, spiralled,
crowded near branch ends, obovate-oblanceolate, decurrent at base, rounded-obtuse to
acute at apex, densely appressed, silvery-grey-pubescent on both sides, softly coriaceous,
somewhat fleshy; petiole, stout, winged; flowers, small, about 6 mm across, tube 2 mm
long, numerous, white, sessile, borne terminally on crowded, many-branched clusters of
tightly-coiled, densely-pubescent, scorpion-tail-like spikes or cymes; fruit, 5 to 8 mm in
diameter, round, greenish-white to brown, 4-parted, minutely apiculate; seeds (nutlets), 2
to 4, embedded in corky tissue. Found on flats behind beaches. Leaves eaten by pigs;
tender leaves and ~neristem pounded to prepare medicines for curing children's rashes,
diarrhea, and fish poisoning; fruit blown through hollow papaya petioles by children.
3(58669), 5(32), 6, 7.
BRASSICACEAE OR CRUCIFERAE (Cabbage or Mustard Family)
Brassica alboglabra Bailey "Chinese kale"
kai laan ts'oi (C)
syns. B. olcracea var. albijlora 0. Kunze; B oleracca var. alboglabra (Bailey)
-- Musil-
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Pre-World War I1 introduction. Asia. Occasional. Erect, sometimes branching
perennial herb, up to 30 cm or higher, grown as an annual; leaves, 6 to 20 cm long and
4 to 15 cin wide, alternate, ovate, pale bluish-green (glaucous), glabrous, dull to shiny,