Leguminosae. 
on the same slopes. At low elevation the plant is entirely glabrous, while just 
below and above the snow-line it is covered with silvery-gray hair, which pro- 
tects it from the severe cold which it experiences not only during the winter 
but also in the summer months. The writer experienced a temperature of 19° 
Fahr. during a night spent on Mauna Kea in the month of July. A few small 
trees were found on Lanai just above the homestead of the former manager of 
the Lanai Ranch Co., in a small gulch all by themselves. Whether they were 
planted there by human hand or by birds cannot be ascertained, but the former 
may be more reasonable, as they were not found elsewhere on Lanai. 
The wood of the Mamani is exceedingly hard and very durable in the ground. 
It is therefore mainly used for fence posts by the cattle ranchers on the large 
estates on Hawaii. On Haleakala, Maui, the trees are of medium size, though 
reaching a similar development at Auahi as near the voleano at Puaulu. On the 
upper slopes of Haleakala they are shrubby. The wild cattle and horses, which 
are very numerous on the upper slopes of Mauna Kea, live almost exclusively 
on the young leaf shoots of the Mamani during the dry season, when there is 
no grass available. But, thanks to the hardiness of the trees, which are ex- 
ceedingly deep-rooted, they are able to withstand these ravages of the descend- 
ants of Vancouver’s cattle. 
The Mamani is peculiar to the Hawaiian Islands, while S. tomentosa is found 
in the South Sea Islands, where it grows on the beach. In Viti or Fiji it is 
known by the name Kau ni alewa, or women’s tree. 
Two native beetles infest the Mamani. They belong to the peculiar genus 
Plagithmysus, and nearly every tree can be seen perforated with small holes, the 
work of the beetle. But to the credit of the beetle may it be said that they at- 
tack only trees already in a dying condition. The two species are P. Blackburn 
and P. Darwinianus. 
ERYTHRINA L. 
Calyx campanulate, truncate, or 5 toothed; vexilum large, conduplicate, alae short, 
often very small or wanting; carina longer or shorter than the alae, the two petals free 
Only one species represented in the islands. The genus, which is distributed 
over the tropies and subtropies of both hemispheres, consists of thirty species. 
They range from the Himalayas to tropical West Africa, Brazil, Australia and 
tropical America, one species being cosmopolitan, with one species in the Ha- 
waiian Islands, which is, however, found in the other islands of the Pacific. 
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