Urticaceae. 
Leaves ovate to oblong acute or hee repo at ad Pa np ears truncate or rounded 
at the base, crenate to serrate, 10 em long, 4 10.5 em wide, oye aah to 
coriaceous, shortly w white-tomentose oteus (Oahu) often light gre een, to dark brown 
especially in specimens from the other Islands; tripli-nerved, the nerves often red in the 
living plant stipules triangul bifid to the middle tite ‘eateate lobes; flowers all sessile 
n oe y clusters a4 12 mm either al male or all female or male and female flowers 
in one glo e (in nai 1 pipes hite tomentose or very hispid; male ey 
seddish neutely * fid to a middle igs ess; stamens a or much exserted "(in plants fro 
Paauhau, Hawaii); female perigon hick, finally fleshy receptacle, the rat a 
stigma much longer than the toe Hers fruit aout 1m 
This is a most variable species, and if one should undertake to separate the 
various forms, one would have to name individual trees. The leaves vary greatly 
in shape and size as well as in pubescence, some being densely gray tomentose 
underneath, others light green to brown; the same holds good of the nervature, 
which is often bright red. 
On Oahu the plant is only a small shrub about 8 feet in height, while in the 
forests of Naalehu in Kau, Hawaii, the writer observed the biggest trees, which 
occasionally attain a height of 30 feet with a trunk of often one foot in diam- 
eter. When a tree grows in the open it has long drooping branches, which are 
arranged pyramid-like. The trunk is clothed in an exceedingly strong fibrous 
smooth bark of a light brown color. As already stated, it is a very variable 
species and occurs on all the islands of the group, avoiding dry districts; it in- 
habits the mesophytie forests at an elevation of 1500 to 4000 feet, but does not go 
higher. Occasionally it can be found in a sub-xerophytie district, but never on 
the lava fields as is the case with the Hawaiian genus Neraudia, which can be 
found in the hottest and driest districts, as well as in the rain forests. Two 
species of Pipturus were described by Heller from Kauai, as P. Kauaiensis and 
P. ruber. The latter is a good species and was even distinguished by the na- 
tives from their Mamaki; it is known to them as Waimea on Kauai. 
The Mamake furnished the natives of old with the fiber for their tapa (kapa) 
or paper cloth, which they obtained from the bark of the tree. It is said that 
Mamaki fiber made the finest tapa and was preferred to that made of the Wauke 
bark. For further information on the fapa making and the fibers used, the 
writer wishes to refer the reader to Dr. Wm. T. Brigham’s valuable book ‘‘Ka 
Hana Kapa,’’ which is an exhaustive treatise on the subject. The wood of the 
Mamaki is exceedingly hard and durable. It is of pinkish color when newly cut, 
and turns brownish with age. The bark and fruits of the Mamaki are supposed 
to have been employed by the natives medicinally for consumption. 
In Samoa several species of Pipturus oceur under the name fausoga or soga. 
The bark of these trees is used by the natives in a similar manner as was that of 
the Hawaiian species—for their tapa or paper cloth. The Hawaiian species is 
supposed to oceur also in Tahiti. 
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