226 NATURAL HISTORY OF HAWAII. 



remnant of the species that once flourished in our mountains. The natives recog- 

 nized their striking form and beauty and gave names to most of the species. 

 One of the commonest names is oha wai, which is applied indiscriminately to 

 species of the more abundant geni« Clermontia. They are known to modern 

 Hawaiians as plants from which the old-time bird-catchers made a sticky glue 

 for capturing birds. Oahu has perhaps twenty-five species, and as many more 

 sub-species and varieties of these interesting plants, that are about equally 

 divided among five of the six Hawaiian genera. 



An important forest tree that extends its range from two to eight thousand 

 feet elevation, often becoming the dominant tree in extensive areas ou Kauai, 

 Maui and Hawaii, is the native mamani.^^ It grows from twenty to thirty feet 

 high, with six to ten pairs of obtuse, rieh-green leaflets to each leaf. The pale 

 yellow flowers are followed later with long straight pods four to six inches 

 long. The hard wood has proved valuable as fence posts. 



The foregoing, together with the bastard sandalwood or naio,'^^ and several 

 species of shrub-like trees '^^ with yellow flowers, are found growing up to and 

 giving character to the upper limit of the forest zone ; in some places reaching an 

 altitude of ten thousand feet above the sea. 



Enough has been said to indicate the tropical luxuranee of this zone: but the 

 ferns, lobelias, creeping vines, lichens and mosses, all form an undergrowth that 

 is varied, striking and interesting. The middle zone, however, is primarily the 

 region of the native forest. 



Of the native woods there are upwards of two hundred species, of which 

 over one hundred are well known forms. The list, as well as the total list of 

 Hawaiian plants, has been somewhat extended through the exploration of Mr. 

 Forbes and others who have been active in this field recently. The ma.jority 

 of the trees are met with in the lower and middle zone. The whole forest region 

 is distinctly tropical in character, since none of the familiar trees of the tem- 

 perate zone are present. The new-comer from America looks in vain for the 

 oaks, the elms, the maples, the spruce and the pine. In tluMr stead he finds the 

 forest trees dominated by the koa, ohia, mamani and kukiii, and that these are 

 combined with koaia."'^ kopiko,''' kolea, naio, puu,''" and a long list of ('(|ually 

 conspicuous trees that occur in almost every landscape. 



Perhaps one of the most accessible and in many ways interesting regions 

 in this zone is that found about the volcano Kilauea. The most casual observer 

 is there impressed with the size and beauty of the tree-ferns that occur in such 

 profusion in that locality ; but the botanist will find a rich field filled with many 

 interesting species. Up to a hundred years ago the forests were only limited 

 by the natural conditions of rainfall, elevation and lava flows. Since the coming 

 of the whites there have been many causes as elsewhere enumerated that have 

 been at work bringing about a change in the natural conditions. Chief among 

 the disturbing elements, however, have been the cattle. As early as 1815 they 



^ Sophora chrysophylla. "*- Myopormn Satidwi 



^ Strauasia spp. ''* Olea Sandwu 



