THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 101 



the new leaves. The flowers are pale scarlet or orange, oc- 

 casionally creamy yellow, and are clustered in axillary racemes. 

 The standard of the flowers is one and one-half to two inches 

 long and nearly as broad, and is quite showy. The Hawaiians 

 had an old proverb which prohibited sea-bathing by the chil- 

 dren while the wili-wili is in flower, for at that season the 

 shark was supposed to be particularly aggressive. 



Immortalized in Hawiian song and legend are the bright 

 yellow flowers of the ilima. Of these were made the choice 

 leis or garlands for which the native had a passionate fondness 

 The lets of twisted orange-yellow crepe-paper which the native 

 women sell at the wharves on "steamer day," and which 

 tourists bring back to the mainland as mementos of their happy 

 visit, are meager imitations of the glowing "lei ilima ,, itself. 

 The flowers are gathered from a low shrub Sida falla.v. There 

 are a number of other closely related species which also have 

 rich yellow blossoms, belonging to the Mallow family. The 

 ilima is abundant on the dry lowlands, and adorns the dreary 

 lava flows and wastelands with its cheerful bloom. The plant 

 itself is three or four feet high, and shows its xerophytic char- 

 acter by its covering" of dense white velvety tomentum. It 

 flowers continuously, and constitutes one of the few showy 

 elements in the somewhat scanty lowland flora. 



Here and there on the semi-arid lowlands, on the hot 

 coral plains and lava fields, and along the sandy shores, occurs 

 a low straggling shrub with large fragrant flowers. The white 

 petals are two inches long, and the cup which they form is 

 filled with beautiful delicate white stamens, about three inches 

 long, and projecting well beyond the petals. This is the maia- 

 pilo (Capparis Samdwichicma) . The flowers are solitary in 

 the axils of the round, entire, pale green leaves. The strag- 

 gling habit of the plant itself is not particularly attractive, but 

 the delicate flowers, opening in the cool of the clay, are as 

 graceful as aigrettes. 



