151 



BRIGHAMIA A. Gray 



Calyx tube oblong-eylindrical, ten-ribbed, with short lobes; corolla salver- 

 shaped, tube long, straight, entire, the lobes spreading, valvate in the bud, the tips 

 and margins intiected, nearly equal, two separated by deeper slits; staminal 

 column adnnte to the corolla below the middle, highest at the back; all anthers 

 subenclosed, and bearded at the ape.x ; ovary bilocular, with peltate placentas; 

 stigma shortly two-lobed. the rounded flat lobes faintly pubescent externally; 

 capsule at flrst fleshy, later opening by two slits on each side ; seeds ovoid, nu- 

 merous, testa thin, .smooth and pale; embryo straight, shorter than oleose albu- 

 men. — A perennial plant with a thick fleshy simple stem couically enlarging at 

 the base and densely foliose at the apex ; leaves entire ; flowers white or yellow 

 on erect axillary racemes, with small deciduous bracts and straight pedicels. 



The genus Brighamia was dedicated to Dr. W. T. Brigham, Director of the 

 B. P. Bishop ]\luseum of Honolulu, by Dr. A. Gray. It consists of a single 

 species and a recently described form. It is related to the Australian genus 

 Tsotoma. which has a representative in the Society Islands. 



Our Brkjliamia as has been discussed in the introduction to this monograph 

 is xuidoubtedly of Australian origin. The question whether it is a declining 

 species, and represents the last remnant of an ancient genus, or an accidental 

 immigrant from Australia, with its peculiar characters developed here, is a dif- 

 ficult one to. settle, though the latter assumption seems to the writer the more 

 plausible. 



Ilalophytes usually develop fleshy stems and fleshy leaves, and Bri(/liaiiiiii can 

 well be classed with halophytic plants, as it is always found in more or less 

 close proximity to the sea. It even occurs within the spray of the breakers, a 

 little above the high surf on the windward side of Molokai, on steep cliffs where 

 it must occasionally get drenched with sea-water on stormy days. It does, how- 

 ever, grow on steep rocky cliffs in the valleys of ]Molokai and Lanai, quite a 

 distance from the .sea. 



Brighamia insignis A. Gray in Mann Enuni. Hawaii. Plants, in Proceed. Am. 

 Acad. VII:185. 1868. 



(Plates 22, 2:1, 74.) 



Stem simple 1.5-5 m high, naked and smooth, fleshy throughout, thickest at 

 the base, leaf-scars mostly obliterated at the base; leaves simple, obovate more 

 or less cup-shaped, contracting at the base, subsessile, thick fleshy, glossy, sub- 

 entire to sinuate crenate, light green, 20-30 cm long. 12-15 cm wide; peduncle 

 stout, fleshy 1.5-12.5 cm long, naked below, bearini;- five to fifteen flowers in its 

 upper half on naked pedicels 5-25 nun long; bracts small dentiform: calyx tube 

 12-14 nnu long, the lobes triangular or lanceolate, 2-8 mm long; corolla white to 

 cream-colored: corolla tube 7.5-12.5 cm long, the lobes ovate acuminate, contract- 

 ing at the base, sometimes subbilabiate, the two anterior lobes separated from 

 each other and from the lateral ones by sinuses forming narrow claws of nearly 

 the length of the lobe; staminal column glabrous, almost white, the anthers 

 scarcely pro.iecting beyond the cleft of the corolla, all bearded; fruit capsular, 

 ovoid to cylindrical 16-18 mm long, crowned with the ealyeine lobes. 



KAUAI or NIIIiAU: Remy no. 309 ter. in Herbarium l\lus. Paris. 



]\IOLOKAI : Steep rocky cliffs near Halawa, W. T. Brigham ; — on steep 

 palis of the northern coast, Kalaupapa to Halawa, Hillebrand in herbarium 

 Berolinense; — steep slopes of Halawa valley, April 1910, Rock no. 8817 in her- 

 barium College of Hawaii : — Kalauj)apa-Kalawao-Waikolu, April 1910. Roelc 



