FLORA OF THE GROUP. 223 



small way as a surgical dressing in cases of excessive bleeding. The old-time 

 natives made use of it in their crude attempts at embalming. Human bodies 

 buried in dry caves and elsewhere if wrapped in pulu were liable through ab- 

 sorption by the pulu to dry out or mummify. 



Gl\nt Ferns. 



Like several other species these giant ferus spring up again fi"om the fallen 

 trunk, particularly in the damp and congenial atmosphere of the middle forest. 

 It is a common sight, along the volcano road, to see the fern stems used for walks 

 and fences continuing their growth, by means of lateral shoots. But space is not 

 sufficient to enumerate all or even the more interesting ferns. Botanists recognize 

 twenty-two genera and at least one hundred and forty good species, more than 

 half of which are confined to the islands. The great majority of these are found 

 most abundantly in the middle forest zone of the different islands of the group. 



A species of considerable interest is the pala fern.""* It grows with glossy 

 dark green leaves three to five feet long rising from a thick fleshy root stock. 

 This latter abounds in starch and a mucilagious substance so that when cooked 

 in the native fashion it made a very good food and was much used by the na- 

 tives in times of scarcity. 



The bird's-nest fern or ekaha ^' belongs to a large genus that is a widespread 

 form of which there are forty species in Hawaii. The English name is there- 

 fore rather loosely applied to any species of the genus. They are common on 

 the trunks and in forks of trees in the forests where they are striking 

 and curious objects resembling birds' nests in many ways. They are much culti- 

 vated in the city where specimens with leaves four feet long and eight inches 

 wide are to be seen. 



The common brake, kilua or eagle fern,''- is everywhere common on all the 

 islands from eight hundred to eight thousand feet elevation, especially on rocky 

 ridges. The species is broken up into many varieties and occurs in one form or 

 another all over the world. The roots of this fern were never used for food. 

 The wild pigs, however, are very fond of them and often turn up great 

 patches in the mountain in search of the roots, thus doing much damage to 

 the forest. The maiden-hair fern or iwaiwa*^ is found in the wet gulches, 

 particularly about waterfalls on all the islands. The black, glossy stems of this 

 fern and also of the larger closely allied species,** known under the same name 

 by the natives, was for a time used by them in making hats and baskets, several 

 specimens being preserved in the Bishop Museum. 



A conspicuous and serious impediment to travel in this region are the 

 tangled, forked fronds of the common uluhi or staghorn ■'^ or one of its two 

 other closely allied species. The polished brown stem, little larger than a slate 

 pencil, often grows six feet or more high, forming a tangle that may extend for 

 miles along the ridges in the whole of the forest zone up to three or four thou- 



40 Marattia Douglas 

 ** Pteris decipiens. 



