320 VAUGHAN MACCAUGHEY 



peaks, but on the slopes, where its footing is more secure and it 

 is protected somewhat from the strong winds. 



The vertical range of the loulu extends from sea-level to an 

 elevation of about 5000 feet. These are the extremes, however, 

 and the bulk of the range Ues between 1000 to 3000 feet, in the 

 middle forest zone.^ In early times the palms were very 

 much more numerous than now near the sea and at the lower 

 levels. They have been ahnost wholly exterminated from the 

 lowlands by man and live-stock, as have many other Hawaiian 

 beach and lowland plants. The upper level coincides with that 

 of the middle forest zone; on Maui and Hawaii, which rise high 

 above this zone, the loulus do not ascend above 6500 feet. 



The loulu finds the optimum conditions for its development 

 in the level portions and ravine bottoms of the rain-forests, 

 where it is protected from the winds, where the soil is deep and 

 rich, and where it can rear its crown above the surrounding 

 vegetation. In these situations it attains a height of 30 to 45 

 feet with a trunk 12 to 16 inches in diameter, and a magnificent 

 crown of massive foliage. 



The normal water requirements of the loulu are a substratum 

 well saturated and a humid atmosphere. It will not grow in 

 situations where the water is stagnant, nor where the soil is 

 xerophytic. It is able to maintain itself, however, in rather 

 dry atmospheric conditions, as on Nihoa and Laysan. The 

 pahns on these low, wind-swept islets are stunted and give 

 ample evidence of the uncongeniality of their enviromnent. In 

 the rain-forests the soil is water-soaked throughout the year. 



Clumps of aged loulu pahns are plentiful along the windy 

 precipices of the various islands, at altitudes of 1800 to 3500 



* Rock states (Indig. Tree Haw. Is. p 99) that "the native Pritchardias 

 . . . are found only at an elevation of about 2000 to 3000 feet in the west 

 or rain-forest zone, though occasionally P. Gaudichaudii occurs near the beach 

 and often at 1000 feet elevation." This statement is scarcely accurate, for 

 various forms of Pritchardia habitually occur both above and below the 2000 to 

 3000 feet zone. Like many other native Hawaiian plants, the loulus in ancient 

 times undoubtedly has much larger ranges than at present. Regions in which 

 the loulu palms are abundant today are: Waialeale, Kauai; Koolau Mountains, 

 Oahu; mountains of East Molokai and West Maui; windward slopes of Hale-a- 

 ka-la, Kea, and Loa, and the Kohala Mountains, Hawaii. 



