MORINDA IN THE HAWAIIAN FLORA 211 



The leaves are 6 to 10 inches long and 4 to 6 inches broad, on 

 petioles of ^ to f inch. The blade is broadly elliptic, thick, shin- 

 ing, and dark-green, hence the name citrifolia, "like the orange 

 leaf." The veins are conspicuously impressed ; the apex is acute 

 or obtuse. As the leaf matures it turns a rich yellow, finally 

 passing into yellow-brown. This feature of coloration before 

 abscission is possessed by only a few Hawaiian plants. The 

 stipules are large, i to § inch long, broadly oblong or semi-lunar, 

 and sometimes 2- 3-fid. They are connate below into a loose 

 sheath which encloses the peduncles. 



The Noni tree is prolific and is almost continuously in flower 

 and fruit. All stages may be found on a single tree at any season 

 of the year. The flower heads are on short, solitary, bractless 

 peduncles. The latter are | to 1^ inches long and are usually in 

 the axil of every other pair of leaves, or leaf-apposed. 



The calyx-limb is short and truncate. The corolla is white or 

 greenish-white; tubular or funnel-shaped; 5-lobed. The tube is 

 about I inch long; pilose at the insertion of the sessile anthers 

 below its middle. The style is shortly bifid, and as long as the 

 tube. 



The fruit is yellowish, fleshy, globose or ovoid, and about 3 

 inches in diameter. Fruits 4 to 5 inches in diameter are not uncom- 

 mon in humid districts. The flesh is very foetid while decaying. 

 In ancient Hawaii, Fiji, and other Pacific islands the Noni fruit 

 was eaten both r'^w and cooked, but is scarcely palatable to the 

 Caucasian taste. An analysis of the fruit, made by the Hawaii 

 Agricultural Experiment Station in 1914, shows the following 

 composition: 



per cent 



Edible portion 59.930 



Waste 40.070 



Total solids 10.970 



Insoluble solids 3. 160 



Ash 0.838 



Acids as H SO 0.303 



Protein 0.631 



Total sugars 3 . 510 



Fat 0. 260 



Fiber 1 .052 



