Monilophyte and Lycophyte hike

This term two students asked to meet the class at the trail head down by agriculture, and other were waiting down by the gym for the class. So at 3:20 PM I picked up moss with sporophytic spore capsules from the Premna obtusifolia on the eastern edge of the campus. I also grabbed a fertile Microsorum scolopendria frond and a Davallia solida frond. I knew a fertile kidou frond and ulungen kiehl would be harder to find on the trail. At 3:30 I was back at the classroom and headed west with the dozen students I found there. I found the cyanobacteria Nostoc at the east edge of the main parking lot along the drainage gutter. I put everything into a plastic bag. The one note for future terms is to bring more bags, smaller bags, clear bags. Everything was a jumbled mess by the time I reached the nan mahl.

Heading west I took the most direct route, the students trailed in a broad arc. Up at the Lycopodiella cernua patch, which is increasingly well developed, I pulled out the Nostoc and began the lecture. This was the first time I had tried this approach. Nostoc was previously covered on day one, but the use of the second half of the period to introduce Schoology on day one has knocked cyanobacteria out of the day one lecture. This term the ethnogarden cleaning featured no cleaning whatsoever and turned into an introduction to the plants of the campus.

Melody Tulenkun on point coming down from the Lycopodiella cernua, Dicranopteris linearis patch. Jake Manuel behind her.

The long stop at the Lycopodiella cernua patch proved beneficial. Three different groups of late arriving students could hear my less than mellifluous voice from up at the agriculture parking lot and were thus able to find their way down to where the class was along the trail. When the stragglers complained about having been left behind, I noted that I left the A101 classroom at 3:30, at the class starting time.

The trail does not look like such to someone not from here, but this trail is actually commuted on daily by many people.

The coverage of Nostoc, bryophyta, Lycopodiella cerna, and Dicranopteris linearis plus the associated terminology of spores, sori, cones, haploid, diploid, meant that the class did not leave the Lycopodiella patch until 4:14.

Virginia Sartilug makes her way down slope

Melody studies the latest edition of the primitive plants list, a LibreOffice/OpenOffice document with the Latin and local names of the plants. A text copy of this list is included at the end of this blog.

Virginia Sartilug and Andrea Ewarmai amidst C. maemonensis and Nephrolepis ferns

At the top of the slope the monilophyte and lycophyte collection includes Nephrolepis, Cyclosorus maemonensis, Microsorum scolopendria, Huperzia phlegmaria, Haploteris elongata, and Asplenium nidus. A young Sphaeropteris nigricans has grown over the past decade such that I can now cover that fern at the steep slope top. This is particularly useful as this leaves only a few ferns to be covered in the valley, allowing me to excuse students with medical or physical conditions from descending into the valley of the ferns.

A couple meters down the steep slope on the right is a new Asplenium laserpitiifolium plant. A few meters further down slope is Asplenium polyodon. I did not see Davallia pectinata on this trip, the time was pushing towards 4:30 and I felt I did not have time to conduct a solid search for the small epiphytic fern.

Melody headed back up slope

Because I covered the A. laserpitiifolium up on the slope, I moved rapidly across the valley floor and headed directly for the Antrophyum callifolium Blume (indigenous) (Syn reticulatum G.Forst). known in Pohnpeian as tehlikinwel. The class continued on to the Angiopteris evecta known in Pohnpeian as peiwed (poaiwed) and in Yapese as m'ong.

Ruthy Phillip heads back up slope

Although the trail is used daily by local children and the elderly, the climb is steep and slippery. The slope will wind a person who is not in good shape and is unaccustomed to the high humidity of a rain forest. There is zero ability to cool via sweating, and the slope is steeper than it appears in photographs. The college does have students with medical conditions, some undiagnosed and not known to the student themselves. Hence this portion of the hike is not without risk factors. That said, the difficulty of the task helps begin to bond the class as a unit.

Heading out towards the Lycopodiella patch.

1. Latin: Nostoc spp.
English: cyanobacteria
Kosraen: fokon faht
Pingelapese: limw (lihmw is Pohnpeian for green algaes in general)
Mwoakillese: pwijen joau (soau is honorific for sun in high Pohnpeian)
Pohnpeian: pwisehn ketipin
Kitti: pwisehn koatipin
Kapinga: gili ' moana
Mortlockese: paniol
Northern Noumenean: num
Faichuukese: num
Woleaian: luumule
Yapese: la'law
2. Moss: Musci
Use: fragrance for coconut oil (K)
English: moss
Kosraen: lum
Pingelapese: limw
Pohnpeian: lihmw
Kitti: lihmw
Mortlockese: lum?
N. Noumenean: num
S. Noumenean: nuum
Faichuukese: nūūm
Satawalese: nwumw
Pollapese: luumw
Woleaian: luumwe
Ulithian: lluum
Yapese: ganir
3. Psilotum: Psilotum nudum
English: whisk fern
Marshallese: martok
4. Lycopodium:
Lycopodiella cernua
Use: Cockroach repellent (P) decoration (C, K, P), arthritus bath (Hawaii, Sumner, 2008)
English: christmas tree club moss
Kosraen: mah in twefuroh
Pingelapese: suhke krismas
Pohnpeian: kidienmal, kidim en mal
Unk C: wúnen kattu
N. Noumenean: unen katu
Faichuukese: ūn-en katu , unen kattu
Puluwatese: kaatu
Woleai: gashishil gaatu
Ulithian: pechalgaatuw (cat's tail)
Yapese: gama'
Fijian: lawanini
5. Fern: Dicranopteris linearis
Use: None
English: false staghorn fern
Pohnpeian: mwedil en mal
Kitti: mwoadil en mal
N. Noumenean: anecha
S. Noumenean: an-nucha
Faichuukese: anecha
Woleaian: gemarag
Ulithian: hamarag
Yapese: gana'
Fijian: qato
6. Fern: Nephrolepis spp.
Use: keep water in bucket (K); cockroach repellent; 4 fiddleheads anti-diuretic or to calm nerves (P); decoration (C)
English: sword fern
Marshallese: anmokadede
Kosraen: ka
(Kenye Nipinyuck Waguk Mongkeya, 2007)
Pingelapese: pweh
Mwoakillese: pwoa
Pohnpeian: rehdil
Kitti: roahdil
Nukuoran: luu'he
Kapinga: lo'godaha
N. Noumenean: amare
Faichuukese: ammaru
Pollapese : amaare
Puluwatese: amare
Satawalese: aemaerei
Woleaian: gemarag
Yapese: alaw' (cockroach)
Fijian: diqi waruwaru
7. Fern: Cyclosorus maemonensis
Use: Washing dishes, tinea versicolor antifungal, local toilet tissue (P), grass skirt (Y)
Kosraen: fa
Mwoakillese: pwoa
Pohnpeian: mahrek
Kitti: marek
Nukuoran: manu'a tababa
Faichuukese: moromoren uuch
Puluwatese: hifin keerh
Woleian: mwatig
Yapese: walem (skirt)
8. Fern: Microsorum scolopendria
Use: Anti-diarheal (K, P) , mwarmwar for dancers (P, W), child's skirt (W), bone medicine
English: fragrant fern or maile-scented fern
Marshallese: kino
Kitti: kidou
Kosraen: sra kwemkwem
Pingelapese: pweh, kideu
Mwoakillese: kamkam
Pohnpeian: kideu
Kitti: kideu
Kapinga: gideu
Mortlockese: amāāra, amááre
Noumenean: chiichi
Unk C: Wénnúmey, sichon
Puluwatese: rhiirhi, riiri
Pollapese: rhirhi
Satawalese: rhirhi
Ulithian: chichi
Woleaian: shishi
Yapese: gob u ley (swamp)
Yapese: gob (drier place)
Fijian: kadakada
9. Fern: Asplenium polyodon or possibly A. pellucidum (tentative)
Pohnpeian: mahrekenleng, rehdil rasaras, rehdil en naniak
Kitti: mahrekenloang
10. Fern: Davallia solida
Pohnpeian: Ulung en kieil
11. Fern: Davallia pectinata (Humata banksii (Alston)
Pohnpeian: limwediliniak, kelmahu
Puluwatese: imwediliniak
12. Psilotum: Psilotum complanatum
Woleai: tiig
Yap: tilbug, dilbug
13. Lycopodium: Huperzia phlegmaria
Use: Mwarmwar for dance (P)
English: lycopodium
Pohnpeian: limpahr, limpar
Kitti: limpar
Yapese: awol (centipede)
Fijian: sevaseva
14. Fern: Haploteris elongata (Sw.). Syn. Vittaria elongata.
Use: Used with local oil to strengthen hair (K), or with water (P, Y)
Pohnpeian: alis en kewelik, alis en Nahnsou sed (honorific for heron), mwosou
Kitti: alis en koawoalik, alis en nahnsoau sed
Mortlockese: ishish
Pollapese: olen maluk
Puluwatese: olan maluk
Yapese: rob (beard)
15. Fern: Asplenium nidus
Use: On yams (P) , leaf tips for soup (Y)
English: bird's nest fern
Marshallese: kartōp
Kosraen: muhlihklihk
Pingelapese: sehlik
Mwoakillese: kardoap
Pohnpeian: tehnlihk
Kitti: toahnlik
Nukuoran: lau gadaha
Kapinga: lo'goho
Mortlockese: chōōlik
Unk C: nnuk
N. Nomenean: nuuk
Faichuukese: nukk , nnūk
Puluwatese: rhM lkk
Pollapese: rhēlūk
Woleaian: iuliuniug
Ulithian: maching (easy to break)
Yapese: chath
Fijian: beluve
16. Fern: Sphaeropteris nigricans (Cyathea nigricans)
Use: Posts for nahs, leaves as mats (P)
English: tree fern
Kosraen: po, tukun inut
Pingelapese: kesar
Mwoakillese: kasar
Pohnpeian: katar
Kitti: katar
Nukuoran: maele
Yapese: yibung
Fijian: balaba
17.  Fern: Asplenium laserpitiifolium Lam.
Japanese: Okinawa-sida
18.  Fern: Cephalomanes atrovirens
Pohnpeian: didimwerek
19. Fern: Antrophyum callifolium Blume (indigenous) (Syn reticulatum G.Forst).
Use: Undetermined to date
Pohnpeian:tehlikinwel
20.  Angiopteris evecta
Pohnpeian: Peiwed (Poaiwed), paiued
Yapese: m'ong