141 

 TREMATOLOBELIA Zahlbruckner 



Trematolobelia* Zahbruck in ( Rock descript. new spec. Hawaii. Plants ) Coll. 



Hawaii Publ. Hull. no. 2:45. 1013. 

 Trcmatocarpns Zahbmclv. in Annal. Mus. \'indob. \'I. 3-4, 430. tig. 1 1891. 



"Calyeis tubus subanthesi adnatus, subglobosu.s, limbus 5-pai-tibus. Corolla 

 areuata/decidua. tubo dorso a basi fisso, liinbi lobis incurvis inaequalibus, 2 

 nia.ioribus altins sohitis. 3 niinoribus counatis solum apiee breviter trifidis. Stain- 

 imnn tulnis a corolla liber, rectus, tul.io eorollae multi lontiior; anthcrae 2 minores 

 vertiee penicillatae, 3 majores glabrae. Ovarium inferum, 2-locidare, placentis- 

 ovolatis. Capsida iiifcra, ligiiosa vcrtice dausa ct nnibonafa, latcralitcr i)der 

 castas praesertim versus basim foraminibns ovalibiis ant rotundatls drliisccns. 

 Semina parva pressione mutua marginata. Embryo rectus, radicula justa hilum, 

 lobis rotundatis planis. 



"Frutex foliis alternantibus. Intloreseentia raeemosa, i)cduiiculis ad axillae 

 bractearum solitariis, bibracteolatis et articulatis. " 



A single species with two distinct varieties inhabiting nearly all the islands 

 of the Hawaiian group. Of the varieties one occurs on Kauai, the other on 

 Hawaii. In regard to the validity of Zahlbruckner 's genus (Trcmatocarpns) 

 there .seems to have been a lengthy discussion by Hemsley and Stajif, both of 

 whom did not think it .iustifiable to erect a new genus on the mode of seed dis- 

 persal of {Lohrlia) Tr( inalolobdia inacrnstaclnjs (Hook, et Arn. ) Zahlbr. which 

 does not take place through a loculicidal dehiscence of the cdnical vertex, but 

 through peculiar holes in the wall of the capsule, which are very numerous anil 

 of different sizes and shapes, becoming larger at the base of the capsule. 



nemsle.\' suggested that the holes imiy have been the work of insects in the 

 herbarium and that Zahlliruckner had monstrous capsules. This the writer can 

 absolutely prove to be not true, as he has studied the plants in the field in all 

 stages of growth; plants from the slopes of Mauna Loa, Hawaii, forests of 

 Naalehu were devoid of all foliage and flowers; even the epicarp had decayed and 

 only the skeleton of the fruits had remained; the capsules were, however, not 

 dehiscent and even after pressure had been applied did not open, nevertheless the 

 capsules were empty and only very few seeds could be found at the very base of 

 the capsule; the rest were dispersed through the numerous holes in the wall of 

 the ligneous capsule. 



In regard to Trcniatdcarpus. which is now a synonym of Tn tiuttoJidxtia. 

 A. Zahlbruckner wrote the following in the Annales of the Vienna ^Museum of 

 Natural History, Vol. VI :430, 1891 (translated by the writer) : 



"I established this genus {Tn inatocarptis) on a plant which was coUecteil by 

 Wawra in the Sandwich Islands and which he identified and published as 

 Lubclia macrostacJnjs Hook, et Arn. I do not doubt that the plant is indeed 

 identical with that described species, though the descriptions as well as the plate 

 by Gaudichaud differ from the actual facts. Neither Hooker and Arnott nor 

 Hillebrand saw mature fruits of this species, and Gaudichaud prepared his 

 plate (figure) from a specimen still in an immature flowering stage. The mode 

 of dehiscence, I considered sufficient to separate the genus Trematocarpus. The 



* Formeil of to rpr^fia = The IkiIp and Lnhiiiii. 



