502 NATURAL HISTORY OF HAWAII. 



species, and there are some of the more favorable localities iu the islands 

 where with close and persistent work a more extended list can be secured. 



It is impossible to give in a few pages a systematic survey of so exten- 

 sive a group as the Hawaiiaii alga?. A few of the more common forms found 

 at Waikiki are figured. These will serve to show how curious and interesting 

 these plants are. But as not a few of the species to be gathered about the 

 islands are as yet unnamed, the collector who is not a botanist may feel sure 

 that he can render good service to science, and at the same time afford 

 himself a pleasant recreation by makiiiu' a carefully collected and well- 

 labeled collection from almost any locality. The label should note such facts 

 as the season, depth, character of the bottom, whether in brackish or salt 

 water, exposed to tide-rush or surf or in quiet pools, and other observations of 

 interest. 



While Hawaiian alga? have been studied to some extent for years, and 

 several important collections have been made, no one, so far as the writer 

 knows, has ever given more than a guess at the probable extent of the flora of 

 the Hawaiian reefs. The literature begins with a list published more than 

 thirty years ago b,v ilr. J. E. Chamberlain, which gave the names of one 

 hundred and twelve species of marine alga; common in Hawaii. In 1900 ]\Iiss J. 

 E. Tilden spent some months in Hawaii collecting the fresh-water and marine 

 alg^, and subsequently p)ublished a list of one hundred species in Thrum's 

 Annual. But as the list published was only a small part of "the several hun- 

 dred species collected," many of which were not described, it is to be hoped 

 that this authority will be induced to make a more exhaustive review of the 

 material. 



Miss ]\Iinnie Reed has also made extensive collections of the alga; of the 

 islands in connection with her especially interesting investigation of the eco- 

 nomic seaweeds of Hawaii and their food value — for limu, as the fresh and 

 salt-water alga; are called by the natives, has always had an important place 

 in the native bill-of-fare. As many as seventy-five species of edible algfe were 

 known to the Hawaiians by name. As this list of edible species is referred by 

 botanists to thirty-eight genera, some idea of the variety of forms of the useful 

 species can be gathered. 



Almost every day at low tide native women and children may be seen on 

 the reef gathering the daily suppty; and at least a dozen species are offered 

 for sale in the markets, along with other Hawaiian delicacies, the favorite 

 species being limu kohu,*'' limu eleele,^" limu oolu ^^ and limu lipeepee."'" 



Seaweed has also had an important place among the native medicinal plants. 

 But Europeans, as a rule, seldom regard this product of the sea as a market- 

 able or an edible commodity. Nevertheless, thousands of dollars' worth of 

 Hawaiian limu is consumed by the natives, and even a greater quantity is 

 imported by the Oriental population. 



