PINHOEX OIL TREE OR CUBAN PHYSIC NUT 

 {Jatropha cure as). 



This small tree with somewhat fleshy stem and branches is 

 found wild in valleys on the windward side of the Island of Ha- 

 waii, but is by no means common. In Guam the writer saw this 

 plant employed as a hedge plant and it is one of the commonly- 

 met-with species. The seeds of this species are said to be edible, 

 but when eaten in excess produce serious trouble and death often 

 results. They are nutty and have a pleasant flavor. The fruits 

 are of the size of a walnut, yellowish and somewhat fleshy and 

 of the same size as those of Jatropha muUifida. 



SAND-BOX TREE {Hnra crepitans). 



This medium-sized tree, which belongs to the same family as 

 the foregoing species, is rare in Honolulu where only it is culti- 

 vated. The male and female flowers, the latter consisting of a 

 pistil only without a corolla, are borne on the same tree but on 

 dififerent branches. The fruit is a capsule of many compart- 

 ments. The sap of this species is extremely poisonous and when 

 applied to the skin produces eruptive pustules resembling those 

 of erysipelas. It is exceedingly injurious to the eye and is said 

 to cause blindness. It contains an acrid poison and when taken 

 internally produces vomiting and diarrhea. The seeds are em- 

 ployed as an emetic. 



APPLE OF PERU (Nicaudra pJiysalodes). 



The plant in question, which has no common name, is a weed 

 in and about Honolulu, especially common at Kaimuki. It is 

 an annual and the fruits, enclosed in their papery calyx, resemble 

 very strongly the well-known Poha or Cape Gooseberry. The 

 plant is from two to five feet in height, the leaves are angular 

 or sinuate toothed ; the flowers are pale blue and rather large ; 

 the fruit is a globular dry berry, the calyx becomes enlarged and 

 is bladder-like in fruit. It is said to be poisonous and is used as 

 a fly poison in the L^nited States. 



RAGWEED (Ambrosia artemisiifoUa). 



This very common rag or stink weed which has made its ap- 

 pearance on Oahu and JMolokai, is especially common along the 

 government road between Honolulu and Haleiwa : in the latter 

 place it is very abundant. 



While it is not exactly poisonous, it is an astringent and a 

 stimulant and causes hay- fever ; the cause being in all probability 

 the pollen which is produced in great abundance and is irritating 

 to the air-passages of many people. 



