Rutaceae. 
PELEA Gray. 
Flowers polygamous. Calyx lobes 4, rarely 5, imbricate. Lobes of corolla 4, rarely 5, 
valvate. Stamens 8, rarely 10, inserted at the base i 
fertile flowers rudimentary, usually the height of the ovary, in the sterile flowers 4, often 
ovate or sagittate, introrse. Carpels 4, rarely 5, united, each with two collateral ovules, 
one ascending, the other pendulous. Capsule of 4 follicles either discreet and 4-coccous 
r more or less deeply 4-parted, in a few species cuboid; follicles 2-valved. 
taceous with black shining testa, on a short and broad funiculus. Embryo straight, in a 
fleshy albumen, with broad ovate cotyledons and short radicle—Unarmed trees with 
opposite or whorled leaves, which are simple and entire, and have an intramarginal nerve. 
Flowers in axillary, simple or compound, mostly paniculate cymes. 
The genus Pelea, which was dedicated by Asa Gray to the Hawaiian goddess 
of the Voleano, Pele, is not strictly Hawaiian, though the bulk of the species is 
found in these Islands. A few only occur outside the Hawaiian archipelago, as, 
for example, three in New Caledonia and one in Madagascar. 
The Hawaiian Pelea are rather difficult for the systematist, as they are ex- 
tremely variable and have numerous forms and varieties which link several species 
together. There are, strictly speaking, very few well defined species. The 
writer in this treatise on the arboreous species of this genus, has added five new 
Species and five new varieties. The work of classifying all the variable species of 
Pelea was made extremely difficult and troublesome through the publication of 
Supposed new species of Pelea by H. Léveillé based on material collected by Abbe 
U. Faurie, in the year 1910. It certainly is most regrettable that this material, 
which often is beyond recognition, was turned over to Mr. Léveillé, who was 
only too ambitious to swell the number of his new species. The descriptions are 
SO incomplete that it was impossible to make use of them and consequently the 
work had to be ignored. 
The writer still has numerous plants of Pelea which could not be placed, which 
are undoubtedly new, but the material is incomplete, either flowers or capsules 
being lacking, and it certainly would be of no help to deseribe these plants as 
new, without complete material, such as sterile and fertile flowers and fruits. 
Even Hillebrand’s descriptions are not too complete, some of them are even 
dubious, and references to such will be found in their proper places. The writer 
could also have swelled the number of new species of Pelea as Mr. Léveillé did, 
to the sorrow of future workers on the Hawaiian Flora, but refrained from doing 
SO on account of insufficient material. Of the new species of Pelea described in 
this book, the writer had abundant and complete material, having visited the 
various localities at different seasons in order to secure the plants in all stages 
of development. Léveillé describes, if so it can be called, five species of Pelea 
in Fedde Repertorium Vol. X. no. 10-14, 1911, and 10 species in Vol. X. no. 27-29, 
1912, the names of all of which are as follows: Pelea Leveillei Faurie, Pelea 
waianaiensis Levl., P. oahuensis Levl., P. penduliflora Levl., P. Feddei Levl., P. 
subpeltata ‘Levl., P. nodosa Levl., P. singuliflora Levl., P. peduncularis Levl., P. 
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