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

CYCADACEAE (Cycad Family)
Cycas circinalis L. "cycad", "sago palm"
te bam (K); laupama, laukimoa (T)
syn. C. rurnphii Miq.; C. seernannii (A. Br.) Schuster; C. undulata Desf.
Recent introduction. Trop. Asia, Australia, and the Pacific islands. Occasional.
Small dioecious palm-like rarely-branching plant, up to 2 m or taller, with a sturdy
brown-ringed trunk; leaves, up to 1 m or longer and 30 cm or more wide, clustered in a
rosette at the crown, frondlike, smooth, pinnate; pinnae, up to 30 cm long and 1 to 2 cm
wide, narrowly lanceolate, with prominant midribs; male inflorescence, up to about 50
cm by 10 cm or more, borne in center of leaves, brown, cone-shaped, consisting of
pollen-bearing scales; female inflorescence and fruit borne on edges of modified brown,
woolly leaves, up to 30 cm long; fruit, up to 5 cm long, ovoid, somewhat compressed,
with a thin fleshy orange-brown covering and nutlike seeds, with poisonous kernels.
Planted ornamental. No reported use in Nauru; seed kernels processed into flour as a
famine or ceremonial food in areas of Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia. 3, 5(46), 6,
7.
ANGIOSPERMAE (Angiosperms or Flowering Plants)
MONOCOTYLEDONA.
ARACEAE (Arum or Taro Family)
Aglaonema comrnutatum Schott "aglaonema"
Recent introduction. Indonesia to Pacific Is. Rare. Perennial herb, up to 1.5 m;
leaf blades, 8 to 20 cm long and 3 to 10 cm wide, elliptic- to oblong-lanceolate, dark
green with silver markings and 4 to 5 pairs of primary side veins; petioles, 5 to 15 cm
long. Ornamental pot plant. 5, 6(274), 7.
Aglaonema costatum N. E. Br . "aglaonema"
- - .-- - ---- -
Recent introduction. S. E. Asia. Rare. Perennial herb, up to 1 m; leaf blade,
about 12.5 by 7.5 cm, stiff, ovate to heart-shaped, dark green with white markings and 5
to 10 pairs of primary side veins. Ornamental pot plant. 6(273), 7.