1868.] 169 [Brigham. 



tains as high as eight hundred or a tliousand feet, almost to the limit 

 of vegetation, and this point is determined by the aspect; on the wind- 

 ward side of Mauna Kea it is at a height of nearly twelve thousand feet, 

 while on the lee of Mauna Loa it is no higher than eight thousand. 

 There is no truly alpine zone ; the trees and shrubs of the lower regions 

 become stunted and finally disappear, and the ujjper regions ax-e wholly 

 destitute of vegetable hfe. Dodoncea, Sophora, Osteomeles, Vacci- 

 nium, Gouania {G. orbicularis), are found near the upper limits. The 

 timber of the forest is largely Metros! deros and Acacia (/I. koa) while 

 the Aleurites is abundant. It is in the dense woods of the lower slopes 

 (three thousand to four thousand feet) that the tree ferns, especially 

 that bearing the/>«/u, which is so important an article of commerce, 

 and lower still the Lobeliaceae, tte Labiatae and the Cordyline or ki 

 of the natives are found. 



The regions yielding the richest harvest of species lie between fif- 

 teen hundred and six thousand feet above the sea. Drosera longifolia 

 is found at an elevation of eight thousand feet, many thousand miles 

 from its nearest known habitat. There are but few showy flowers, 

 and still fewer fragrant ones, in the Hawaiian Flora. The genera Hibis- 

 cus, Gardenia, Byronia, Brighamia, Metrosideros, Eugenia, Sca^vola, 

 Cyrtandra, Phyllostegia, with a few Compositte, Convolvulaceie and 

 Leguminosaa, comprise nearly all the showy or beautiful flowers. In 

 the coloring, white or greenish white is predominant, and yellow and 

 pink follow at a respectful distance. There are very few blue flowers. 

 Slrongylodon lucidwn is a rich crimson, and some other leguminous 

 plants are violet, but the various and brilliant coloring of the Cali- 

 fornian plants is wholly absent. 



It is a matter of great interest to ascertain the indigenous fruits. 

 The coconut, paudanus, cordyhne, breadfruit and kalo, are in the 

 present list regarded as belonging to this class, although many have 

 supposed the natives transplanted them in their migrations, or that 

 oceanic currents drifted them upon the shores. To the former 

 hypothesis the objection presents itself, that the breadfruit grows on 

 the island only by cuttings, which could not be preserved for so long 

 a voyage as would be required to come from the nearest land,^ and 

 the kalo does not possess much persistent vitility; to the latter the 

 existing currents would prove an obstacle, as these strike the Hawai- 

 ian Group from the northeast, bringing huge pine logs from Oregon, 

 but no tropical fruits. 



* See S. B. Dole, Voyages of the Ancient Hawaiians. Hawaiian Club Papers, 

 1868, p. 4. 



