708 Forestry Quarterly 



The •mli-imli, (Erythrina monosperma Gaud.), is a soft-wooded 

 legtiminous tree of the lowlands. It has a short, stocky trunk, 

 and a squat spreading crown of stiff, gnarled branches. The bark 

 is smooth, thin, and of a peculiar leathery yellow-brown color, with 

 scattering conical prickles. The foliage is sparse, three-foliate, 

 and crowded at the ends of the branches. This is one of our few 

 deciduous trees. The flowers are dull red or creamy-yellow, in 

 showy axillary racemes ; these appear after the spring rains, before 

 or with the new leaves. The pod is two to three inches long, with 

 one or several bright scarlet beans. The wili-wili is strongly 

 zerophytic, and inhabits the arid lowlands up to an elevation of 

 1500 feet. The tree is fairly common, although it is solitary and 

 scattered, and does not form groves or piu"e stands. The wood is 

 white, very soft and grainless, and of remarkable buoyancy. The 

 natives formerly used it for the outrigger of their canoes, for which 

 purpose its lightness, which is equal to that of cork, admirably 

 fitted it. The trees are easily grown, and the buoyant wood 

 should come to be of some economic value. 



A very soft-wooded liliaceous tree, that is also plentiful in the 

 arid and semi-arid lowlands, is the hala-pepe, Dracaena aurea Mann. 

 It is twenty to thirty-five feet high, with a profusion of erect, stiff, 

 naked branches, each of which, like the hala, is crowned with a 

 large rosette of long pointed, ribbon-like leaves. The bark is 

 light gray and smooth; the wood is exceedingly soft and brittle, 

 white with reddish brown streakings. The tree is common on 

 the barren leeward stretches of the various islands. On Kauai, 

 near Waimea, it forms extensive, almost pure, stands. It is also 

 plentiful in the vicinity of Honolulu. In the days of ancient 

 Hawaii the wood was used commonly for idols, because of the 

 ease with which it could be carved. 



Another tree of interest because of the remarkable lightness and 

 softness of its wood, although not of economic importance, is the 

 papala, Charpentiera obovata Gaud. This small tree is fifteen to 

 thirty-five feet in height, with thick, glossy, dark green foHage and 

 smooth thin, light-brown bark. The tree lives in the lower forest 

 zone, and up to four thousand feet, on all the islands, in both 

 humid and semi-arid regions. The natives formerly used the wood 

 for torches, as it burned with great briUiancy. One of the note- 

 worthy ancient nocturnal sports consisted in throwing great num- 

 bers of these buoyant, flaming firebrands from high precipices 



