310 FLORA VITIENSIS. 
vernac. Hawaiense, teste Barclay, “ Aka-ava”), collected in Oahu (Seemann! Macrae! Hillebrand!) and 
Atoi (Barclay !), where it is used by the natives for tying the rafters of their houses; and 8, P. Menziesii, 
Seem. |. e. t. 81, caule teretiusculo petiolisque dense. aculeato ; foliis ovato-oblongis, acuminatis, 7-nerviis, 
supra inermibus, subtus ad costas aculeatis ; umbellis ¢ racemosis, rachidibus inermibus bracteatis, bracteis 
ovatis acuminatis, pedunculis compressis ebracteatis, receptaculis globosis, perig. foliolis 6 oblongo-linearibus ; 
umbellis 9 solitariis, pedunculis aculeatis.—Sandwich Islands (Menzies! in Herb. Mus. Brit.). A very 
singular species. The branches, petioles, peduncles of female flowers, and the ribs of the lower side of the 
leaves are covered with spines, much more minute and dense than they are in many species of Smilax. 
1. P. Vitiensis, (sp. nov.) Seem. l. c. (Tab. XCIII.); inermis, glabra; caule terete ; foliis sub- 
cordatis v. ovato-oblongis, acuminatis, 3-5-nerviis, coriaceis; pedunculis 4 2-3-fidis, perigonii 
foliolis 6 ovato-oblongis acuminatis l-nerviis, antheris ovatis; pedunculis 9 solitariis; baccis 
globosis (nigris) 3-spermis.—N omina vernac. Vitiense, * Kadragi," * Wa rusi,” et * Na kau wa.”— 
Islands of Ovalau, Vanua Levu, Viti Levu, and Kadavu (Seemann! n. 631, ex parte). 
This is closely allied to P. Sandwichensis, but the leaves are somewhat differently shaped and have 
fewer ribs, and the anthers are different in shape and size. The leaves of the lower part of the stem are 
very large (Fig. 1), often measuring a foot in length and nineinchesacross. The male umbels are arranged 
on short forked peduncles, and the middle umbel is always the largest and longer than the petiole ; whilst the 
female umbels are on simple peduncles, which are shorter than the petiole. Female flower is unknown. 
The berry is round and black, and contains three seeds. The creeper is found throughout the group, espe- 
cially on land that has at one time been cleared, and might be gathered in quantities if there were an 
demand for it. Yn the London market it would be unsaleable at present. It belongs to that section of 
Sarsaparillas distinguished by pharmacologists as the * non-mealy," the most valued representative of which 
is the Jamaica sort. Moreover, it has no “beard,” or little rootlets. The natives of Ovalau, Viti Levu, 
and Vanua Levu, name it * Kadragi " and * Wa rusi;" those of Kadavu, * Na kau wa," literally, “ the 
woody creeper.” It is said to be common also in the Samoan and Tongan groups, and prepared Sarsaparilla 
occasionally imported to the two last mentioned has found no market, the indigenous being preferred to 
the foreign. Curious to add, in Fiji it is not, as with us, the rhizome that is used, but the leaves, 
which are chewed, put in water, and strained through fibre, like the root of the Yagona or Kawa (Piper me- 
thysticum, Forst.), before being taken. 
ExPLANATION oF Prare XOINI., representing Pleiosmilax Vitiensis, Seem.—Fig. 1, one of the leaves 
of the lower portion of a plant; 2, a branch with male flowers; 3, a male flower; 4, a portion of branch 
ye 
with ripe fruit :—ali, except Fig. 8, natural size. 
Orvo CL LILIACER. 
Besides the genera enumerated below, there is in tropical Polynesia the genus Dracena, of which one 
species (D. aurea, Hor. Mann) is found in the Hawaiian Islands. Allium Ascalonicum, Linn., is culti- 
vated in Viti, and succeeds well, the natives terming it “ Varasa." 
I. Cordyline, Comm. ; R. Brown, Prodr. p. 280; Endl. Gen. n. 1166. Perigonium corollinum, 
campanulatum, limbo 6-fido, patente.. Stamina 6, perigonii fauci inserta ; filamenta subulata, an- 
there versatiles, basi 2-fide. Ovarium 3-loculare. Ovula co, anatropa. Stylus filiformis ; stigma 
3-lobum. Bacca globosa, 3-locularis. Semina in loculis oc, v. abortu solitaria, umbilico strophio- 
lato. Embryo axilis, extremitate radiculari centripeta.— Plantze caudice frutescente, interdum elato, 
foliis in apice caudicis congestis, elongato-lanceolatis, nervoso-striatis, petiolatis v. sessilibus, panicula 
terminali e spicis v. racemis alternis multifloris, floribus bibracteolatis, bracteola altera interiore, ses- 
silibus v. pedicellatis, perigonio cum pedicello articulato.—J. Hooker in Gardn. Chron., 1860, p. 
792. Dracene sp., Linn.; Forst. Charlwoodia, Sweet, Fl. Austr. t. 18. 
Besides the three species of Cordyline found in Viti, we have in tropical Polynesia C. Baueri, Hook. 
fil; (C. australis, Endl. Fl. Norf. n. 29; Dracena australis, Hook. Bot. Mag. t. 283, non Forst. Prodr.; D. 
obtecta, Grah.), from Norfolk Island. The different species are known amongst the light-skinned Polyne- | 
