87 



at an elevation of -4000 feet. The Koa tree, split by the force of the wind, exposed 

 the tweuty-foot-long' tap root, which made its way right through the centei- of 

 the big trunk. The tap root was over an inch in diameter where it entered tlie 

 ground. Only one single lateral root was observed, which w-as, however, dead. 

 Nothing is known of the root system of the other lobelioideous genera occurring 

 in these islands save that they must be weak, as the plants are readily pulled up. 



SYSTEMATIC POSITION OF THE GENUS CYANEA. 



The genus Cijatica was first established by Gaudiehaud in 1826 on the single 

 species C. G)■ilnc.^^ialla. The large foliaceous calyx lobes peculiar to that species 

 served as the generic character. On the species with dentiform caly.x; lobes he 

 established the genus Ddissca, such as D. subcordafa, D. undulata, and D. acu- 

 minaia. Succeeding collectors such as Pickering, Wawra, Ilillebrand, and Mann 

 brought to light many moi-c new species, especially Hillebrand, who quite suc- 

 ee.ssfully arranged his large material into the order adhered to in this paper. 

 The calycine lobes were found to be the most variable character, and the second 

 factor, the five anthers which were all bearded in ('. Grimrsidiia, jn-oved to occur 

 in other species which did not have foliaceous calyx lobes, while plants with 

 foliaceous calyx lobes had again only the lower anthers bearded, and as Hille- 

 brand remarks: — "were very inisalisfaciorihj dcfiiud bij irrrlvvaiil tcclinical 

 characters ichich separated in different (jenera closely related species anel brought 

 together quite heteroejenous ones.''' 



The main generic eharacter in Vyanea. as adopted by Ilillebrand, and adhered 

 to by the writer, is the racemose inflorescence, a ct)rolla without knobs, and 

 smooth, shining, crustaeeous seeds. 



For further reference in regard to distinctions between Cyanea and Delissra 

 see introduction under the latter. 



The genus Cyanea, of which C. Grimesiana is the type, is the largest of all 

 the seven genera of the tribe or subfamily Lobelioideae represented in the Ha- 

 waiian Islands. The larger Cyaneae, that is the arborescent ones belonging to 

 the section palmaeformes, are more distinct and show no such proneness to 

 variation as is the ease with the herbaceous or subherbaceous species. To the 

 writer's mind the group of Cyanea forming the section palmaeformes appears 

 to be the oldest of that genus, while those of section delisseoideae would follow, 

 with section hirtellae next, and last those more or less subherbaceous ones of the 

 section Cyaneae ejennineae, which show extreme variation. While there are sev- 

 eral species in the section palmaeformes which are decidedl.y distinct, there are 

 others of the same section which seem to be more closely connected, such as 

 Cyanea atra and Cyanea Gibsonii; the next closest allied is C. macrosteejia, fol- 

 lowed by C. aeuleatiflora and C. hamatipora. The most interesting species of 

 that section appear to be C. leptostegia. C. superba. C. arborea and Cyanea Gif- 

 fardii. These four species are decidedly distinct and probably extremely old, 

 while the others are closely connected and range more or less into each other, 

 not only the species from one and the same island district, but others of that 

 , section occurring on Molokai and Hawaii. They form as it were a common 

 group by themselves, pointing back to a common ancestor. The four species 

 above mentioned may however be the remnant of a distinct group, the inter- 



