WM. T. BRIGHAM ON HESPEROMANNIA. 527 



XIV. Notes on Hesperomannia, a new Genus of Hawaiian Composite. By William T. 



Brigham. 



Read May 6, 1868. 



DR. ASA GRAY, who named this new genus, has given the following generic characters. 1 



Hesperomannia. Nov. Gen. Mutisiacearum. 



" Capitulum homogamum, multiflorum et aequaliflorum, discoideum, floribus herrnaphrodi- 

 tis. Involucrum campanulato-turbinatum, multiseriale ; squamis chartaceo-rigidis obsolete 

 nervatis, mucronato-acutis, interioribus lineari-lanceolatis, exterioi'ibus sensira brevioribus. 

 Receptaculum planum nudum. Corolla3 subcoriaceaa, angustaa, subregularis (leviter bilabiatse, 

 f, extus intusque glabrae, tubo quinque-nervi), laciniis longis linearibus erectis. Filamenta 

 imo tubo corollae inserta, e fauce exserta : antherae lineares, brevissime caudatae, caudis trun- 

 catis ultra articulum baud productis. Stylus filiformis, ramis brevissimis angustis acutiusculis. 

 Achenium oblongo-lineare, angulatum, erostre, glabrum. Pappus multiserialis, setis rigidulis 

 scabris. — Arbuscula inermis, glaber; foliis obovato-oblongis subserratis penninerviis breviter 

 petiolatis ad apices ramorum brevium confertis ; capitulis terminalibus subumbellatis brevi- 

 pedunculatis ea Chuqmragce insignis semulantibus ; floribus flavis." 



Hesperomannia arborcscens. Gray. The only known species of this genus was found by 

 Mr. Horace Mann on the summit of Lanai, almost in the centre of the Hawaiian Group, 

 longitude 157° W., latitude 20° 45' N., at an altitude of about two thousand feet. A single 

 tree was seen, but from the nature of the country, it is not impossible that many more grow 

 in the immediate neighborhood hitherto unobserved. I however looked for it on Molokai, 

 the nearest island, separated from Lanai by a narrow strait, and quite similar, on its south- 

 western end, in soil and climate, but without success. It is probably confined to Lanai. 



The specimen found was a small tree some twenty feet high, and divaricately branched, 

 bearing several flower-heads at the ends of the branches. Leaves 3 to 5 inches long, 1 to 

 1.5 inches wide, clustered near the ends of the branches which are rough ; the flower-heads 

 are from 1.5 to 2 inches in diameter, with bright yellow flowers and tawny pappus. 



The genus falls into the group Flotowiece of Weddell's arrangement of the Mutisiacece, and 

 is closely allied to the common Andiue genera Chuquiraga and Donio ply/ton, and on the other 

 hand to the Cuban and Brazilian genera Sliftia and Anastraphia. This is not only the only 

 known Labiatiflora on the Hawaiian Islands, but also the only one from any of the proper 

 Pacific Islands. It adds another to the very small company of arborescent compositaa. 



Dr. Gray has named this genus in honor of its discoverer, my friend and companion in 

 Hawaiian exploration, Mr. Horace Mann, whose discoveries of Hawaiian plants amount to 

 nearly ten per centum of the whole Phaanogamous Flora as yet described. As the name 

 Mannia had already been bestowed upon a genus of SimarubecB in commemoration of the 

 botanical labors of Mr. Gustavus Mann in Tropical Africa, the word is compounded by a dis- 

 tinguishing prefix. It may be added, that seeds of Hesperomannia have been planted in 

 Honolulu, and plants grown from them. 



1 Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Vol. VI, p. 554. 



