317 



Clermontia Hawaiiensis ( Hillebr.) Rock in Indig. Trees Hawaii. Isl. 477, 



pi. 199. 1913. 

 Clermontia macrocarpa var. Haivaiicnsis Hillebr. Flora Hawaii. Isl. 241. 1888. 



(Plates 44, 45, 48, 178, 179.) 



Leaves ovate-obovate, oblong', undulate, dark green, glossy above, glabrous, 

 lighter beneath, pubescent along the veins and midrib, the veins impressed, 15-22 

 cm long, 3-6 em wide on reddish petioles of 2.5-3 em. ehartaeeous, acute or acu- 

 minate, obtuse or rounded at tlie apex, acuminate at the base; peduncles two to 

 four-flowered, 3-6 cm long, bibracteate in the ujiper foui'tli, bracts foliaceous, 2-8.5 

 cm long, linear-oblong, denticulate; pedicels 2-4 cm long, bibracteolate at the 

 middle and at tlieir common base, pnberulou-S; ovarian portion of calyx sub- 

 globose to oblong, turbinate, pronouncedly ten-ridged, the dorsal ridge almost 

 wing-like, the lobes green or purplish as long as the corolla and enclosing the 

 same, 6-6.5 cm long, the dorsal slit extending to the base, the latteral slits beyond 

 the middle, each lobe strongly nerved, each nerve being a continuation of a ridge 

 of tlie ovarian portion of the calyx; corolla slightl.y curved, especially before 

 antliesis, and thickened toward the apex in the bud, white to greenish purple or 

 purple; staminal column ghibrous, green or ])urple, anthers pale purple, or dark 

 and hirsute ahing the sutures or glabrous, the two lower penciUate only; berry 

 large 3 em in diameter, truncate at the apex, orange yellow, ten-ribbed. 



HAWAII: From Hilo to Waiohino, flowering, Ilillebrand in Herbarium 

 Berolinense; — Volcano road, flowering July 1911, Rock no. 8801; — ^launa Loa, 

 Kipuka Puaulu, flowering July 1911, Rock no. 8802; — Puaulu and Maunaloa, 

 flowering July 1911, Rock no. 8803 type in herbarium of tlie College of Hawaii ; — 

 Puna, Hawaii, on road to Tree-moulds, flowering September 2, 1917, Rock no. 

 12847 in lierbarium of the College of Hawaii. 



Clermontia Hawaiiensis embraces ciuite a numlier of forms. Ilillebrand "s 

 typical var. Hawaiiensis of CI. macrocarpa was obtained evidently back of Hilo 

 or Puna. It is true that the plants from these two mentioned localities come 

 rather close to ('l. macrocarpa^ CI. Kakeaua, but those found higher up the 

 mountain on Mauna Loa, as, for example, in the famous Kipuka Puaulu 

 and in the fern forest at 4200 feet elevation, look quite different; it is a 

 compact tree up to twenty feet in height with a dense round crown. These 

 different forms range more or less into each other, and it is desirable to rec- 

 ognize them all as a species. In Puna the species is exceedingly common ; whole 

 aa (trough) lava flows are taken up by this species, which forms a regular scrub 

 forest to the exclusion of everything else. 



The leaves are sometimes oblong or ovate, the peduncle either very long and 

 then twice as long as the pedicels and two-flowered, or as long as the pedicels or 

 little longer and then four-flowered; the two inner pedicels are shorter and 

 thicker (almost quadrangular) tlian the two outer pedicels. In the four-flowered 

 specimens the corolla is purple, while in the long-peduncled, two-flowered speci- 

 mens the corolla is either whitish or greenish. In the forests of Keauhou, on 

 ]\Iauna Loa, about three miles from the Volcano House, it is exceedingly plenti- 

 ful and grows usually on trunks of Cihoiium tree ferns or it is also occasionally 

 terrestrial. In the above-mentioned region it is associated with Acacia J(oa lia- 

 icaiiciisis. Metrosiclcros collina polymorplia, BIyoporum sandwiceiise, Straussia 

 hawaiiensis. etc. The plants found immediately back of Hilo may not be refer- 

 able to this species, but to Clermontia Kakeana. 



