Rutaceae. 
slopes of Mauna Loa at an elevation of 4000 feet, in the Kipuka Puaulu, near 
the Voleano Kilauea on Hawaii. Only two trees were observed; both were of 
the same size, about 40 feet in height, with stout, ungainly looking, ascending 
branches. Collected flowering and fruiting July 20,1911. Type is no. 10208 in 
the College of Hawaii Herbarium. 
Xanthoxylum dipetalum Mann, var. y Hbd. 
Kawau on Kauai. 
XANTHOXYLUM DIPETALUM Mann. var. y Hbd. Fl. Haw. Isl. es 
Flora (1873) 139——Connarus 2 Kauaiensis Mann Proc. Am. eae Vit. gies “162, 
Leaves on short petioles of 1 em, 3 to 1 foliolate, with the supplementary pair of 
stipellif > orm leaflets besides, obovate- -eblong, cag coriaceous ae oe bi ieee with promi- 
nent veins and a disti rae ve ginal nerve; panicles as few flowered; 
on flowers: sepals ee iad, eraicce, as are ae ‘t pene ee 
stam anting, ones elabrons, styles apparently two, but not distinct as in 
pista PAD ere only to be gr — Set united at the a apex by a broad, flat, oe 
lar, grooved stigma; male flowers: petal ovoid, smaller, only two- gts ‘the length of 
the fem ‘ale flower, eaters 4, less than hal? the length of the petals, m, including 
the 0.5 mm long filament, ovary rudimentary ; oe single, 3 cm “Tong, including the 6 
mm long acumen at the apex, slightly pitted, woody; seed ovoid, the hard woody 
testa covered with a black, shining, thin and brittle garni, as Fapke extending its 
entire length; cotyledons thick fleshy, plano-convex, the radicle very short and enclos ed. 
This exceedingly interesting tree reaches a height of more than 30 feet with a 
trunk of often over a foot in diameter. It favors the outskirts of the forests 
on the leeward side of Kauai, especially at Kaholuamano and Halemanu above 
Waimea at an elevation of 3600 to 4000 feet. It is found in company with 
Pelea anisata, Bobea Mannii, Pelea Kauaiensis, Elaeocar pus bifidus, Cyanea lepto- 
stegia, Tetraplasandra Waimeae, Siderorylon sandwicense, Alphitonia excelsa, 
Pterotropia kauaiensis, and others which make up this very interesting mixed 
orest. 
On Kauai, to which island this tree is peculiar, its trunk was in great demand 
for tapa or kapa logs or anvils on which the strips of the wauke bark were beaten. 
The yellowish wood of this tree was especially in favor with the natives on ac- 
count of the resonant tones it produced when struck with a tapa beater made of 
some of the hard woods, such as Uhiuhi, Kauila, and others. The sound of the 
tapa beating would be heard from valley to valley, and constituted a regular 
system of communication by means of a code. 
This Kawau tree, or as it is also termed Kawau kua kuku kapa, is the subject of 
a mele or old Hawaiian song, which begins thus: “‘Mehe Kawau laka ale i ka 
moana, ete.’’ As the Kawau so is the sound of the ocean. ‘The old natives evi- 
dently had reference to the sounds produced by the pounding surf, which can 
be heard for a long distance, and compared it with the resonant sound produced 
when beating tapa on the Kawau log. According to Mr. Francis Gay of Kauai, 
the natives of that island preferred this tree to any other for the above described 
purpose. 
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