6 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



foria mariana of the Southern States except in color. They 

 grew on vines twining over the roadside. A small tree called 

 piti by the natives is very abundant and bears handsome yel- 

 low trumpet-shaped flowers like those of Gelseiiiiiiin semper- 

 virens. 



The first fern one sees in quantity is a pedate maidenhair- 

 shaped bracken species. It is found on all dry hills. The 

 ferns of Tahiti are most interesting. They grow in all 

 shapes, — broad, narrow, parsol-like, fan-shaped, — and on 

 rocks, on trees — anywhere, apparently. They grow to the 

 sizes of small trees and some are even said to have trunks like 

 trees but I did not happen upon these last during my limited 

 stay in Tahiti. I found Lycopodiniii but once, near Taravao 

 where the ocean nearly cut the island in two. I think the 

 species is L. cermmm. 



A little triangular fern and a delicate maidenhair are found 

 up the Fantana and elsewhere. There is also a fern resem- 

 bling precisely Onoclea seusibilis. In a book by F. W. 

 Christian descriptive of the IMarquesas. mainly, will be found 

 a list of the Marquesan ferns which in many respects are like 

 those of Tahiti. Another remarkable feature of Maiatea val- 

 ley is the mistletoe and other hanging vegetation growing on 

 the horizontal branches of trees. The enormous dark arrow- 

 shaped leaves of the wild taro are commonly seen in the nar- 

 row valleys and along shady stream banks. 



One of the finest plants of the South Sea Islands is the 

 mango-tree whose oval, golden fruits are now ripening under 

 the hot tropical sun. Not even the large-leaved bread-fruit 

 can excel it, nor can those magnificent feather-dusters the co- 

 conut palms, nor the spiny dark-leaved citrous trees with their 

 piquant globes. Last but not least in the golden mango tree. 



