Director's Report for icjiS. 7 



Dr. Cooke also prepared in the early part of the year, a pre- 

 liminary catalogne of the Lepaehatinae and Tornatellinidae in the 

 Bishop Museum. The paper, while illustrating the extent of his 

 work in these families, serves the wider purpose of a eheck list of 

 the species, and an indication of their distril)ution. The catalotjue 

 appears in Occasional Papers, XDlume \ 1, Xumher 5. 



It mig-ht be mentioned that the rapid expansion of the collec- 

 tions in this curator's charg-e, had so limited the space for the re- 

 classifications made from time to time, that an additional rcjom 

 was assigned to him — the room that had been used for instruments. 



BOTANY. 

 The report of the Curator of Jiotany, Mr. C. N. Forbes, 

 covers a period of two years, 1917 and 1918. ^Ir. Forbes observes 

 that 191 7 was exceptionally dry on most of the Hawaiian islands, 

 with the exception of Lanai. and was, on this account, a very 

 favorable year for the botanical collector. On Kauai, during Juh' 

 and August, the section west of the Waimea River, covering- a 

 large portion of the country near the Kokee stream was explored. 



The region is so extensive and so cut up into numerous ridges and 

 gulleys, that it was hardly more than skimmed over in the time that I was 

 there. Tlie lower ridges represent one of the dryest habitats on the island of 

 Kauai, while the vast dissected upland plateau known as the Alakai Swamp 

 is a region of perpetual rainfall. In a region of such diversified hahitats, 

 the flora is naturally very rich and varied and possesses additional interest 

 as being the type locality for most of the species collected ])y Valdemar 

 Knudsen and described in Hillebrand's Flora, and also many of Wawra's 

 species. I received much kindly help from Hon. E. A. Knudsen, and through 

 his assistance covered more territory than would otherwise have been 

 possible. 



During Septemljer a short visit was made to Lanai as the guest of 

 xMr. G. C. Alunro. Under Mr. ]\lunro"s system of plowing and seeding 

 paddocks, coupled witli unusually ramy weather, the country was quite 

 green. Owing to the decrease in the number of wild goats, the forest under- 

 growth on the main mountain was mucli thicker tlian on my last visit in 

 igi2. I was especially fortunate in lieing able to hnd a single specimen of 

 Hrsfcro/iniiiiiia urhorcscciis in its type locality. Part of September and 

 the month, of October were spent on INIaui, in Honokohatt valley, where T 

 camped at the in-take of the plantation irrigation ditch. Several trips were 

 made to the summit of Eke, a small isolated crater with a peculiar and very 

 interesting bog flora. The flora of the valley itself showed the effect of an 

 unusual drought. A fern, Dryoptcris cvaflicoidcs, which was very common 



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