58 



age (one year) is accountable for the relatively rapid spread of 

 the species. The seedlings develop a strong- tap root which en- 

 ables them to thrive in competition with cogon grass on dry sites. 

 In the open individual trees attain a diameter of 10 inches and a 

 height of 32 feet. In dense stands the individual trees develop 

 into slender poles with a short bushy tuft of very slender branches 

 at the top. The interior of such stands is devoid of any ground 

 cover other than seedlings of the same species and is a veritable 

 thicket in which grass has no chance to grow. 



A recent count of seedlings of Lencaena glaiica approximately 

 two years old on a sample plot one-four hundredths of an acre in 

 size in the eucalyptus forest en Tantalus Ridge, Honolulu Water- 

 shed Forest Reserve, Oahu. gave the following results. 



SEEDLINGS. 



At this rate there are 96,400 seedlings two years old per acre 

 in this naturally sown stand. . The germination per cent of haole 

 koa seed collected in Makiki Valley, Honolulu, is 85 by an actual 

 sprouting test. By count there are 9,856 seeds in one pound. To 

 obtain a stand of trees approximating- this natural yield it would 

 be necessary, therefore, to broadcast the seed at the rate of 12 

 pounds (100,531 viable seed) per acre. To cover a wider scope 

 and to allow for contingencies such as the lack of fresh seed, and 

 poor soil or moisture conditions, the plan followed in the experi- 

 ment under discussion was to sow seed on the differently prepared 

 plots at the rate of 10, 20, and 30 pounds per acre. 



Stands of such a heavy density pass the fire danger by the end 

 of three years and completely eliminate the grass. They thus 

 prepare the area for the later establishment of forest species. 

 W^here the haole koa occurs in smalFgroups at short intervals in 

 grass areas, the grass in between the clumps is less vigorous than 

 when growing alone. Other trees planted in between these 

 clumps or near them would be given the shade that they require 



