Myrtaceae. 
months the trees are often loaded with the bright red berries, which are edible, 
though somewhat insipid. The inflorescence is often monstrously deformed, 
similarly to that of the Kalia tree (Elaeocarpus bifidus), the work of a species 
of Acari. 
The wood was used as fuel and also in house-making, while the bark was 
employed in staining tapa a black color. 
METROSIDEROS Banks. 
wers perigynous. Receptaculum funnel-shaped or at ge Calyx-lobes 
‘iad or obtuse, 5. Petals 5, rounded. Stamens numerous, lly i row; filaments 
free, long; anthers elongate, dorsifixed, versatile. Ovary ek at sae base with the 
receptaculum, 3-celled. Style very lon ngs stigma cp eeds many, covering the whole 
placenta , only p artially fertile; testa thin; embryo straight; cotyledons flat or ee 
longer than the toate le.—Trees o  abrabs: rarely cubes (in New Zealand). Leaves op- 
posite. Flowers in terminal or entaey eym 
The genus Metrosideros consists of over 20 species, of which only one oceurs 
in the Cape Colony, one in the Sunda Islands, and the remainder are distributed 
over Australia and Polynesia. The Hawaiian Islands possess five species, of 
which one is cosmopolitan (M. polymorpha) and occurs here in numerous va- 
rieties, while the others are peculiar to the Hawaiian Islands. 
This genus furnishes the bulk of the Hawaiian forests; next in number is 
the Acacia Koa. 
For the numerous varieties of the Ohia lehua the natives of the olden days 
had many names, as, for example, Lehua mamo, an orange yellow flowering Me- 
trosideros polymorpha; Lehua kumakua, with sessile cordate leaves; Lehua 
laulii, with very small leaves; Lehua puakea, with white flowers, and others. 
KEY TO THE SPECIES. 
Leaves on short peti 
Leaves subor B Shen ry ‘cordate ovate or pbionas capsule almost free. . M. polymorpha 
Leaves linear or elliptical, acute at both ends............--+---+++ M. tremuloides 
rugose and se teen ty ove; capsule geen to near the apex M. rugosa 
em 
aves ovate to ovate- aie: capsule e hidden in the calyx tube..... 
acropus 
Lekvce aconinaie: caudate, capsule projecting beyond the ealyx-tube M. . tremuloides 
Metrosideros polymorpha Gaud. 
Ohia lehua or Lehua. 
(Plates 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132.) 
eo POLYMORPHA Gaud. Bot. ee Uranie (1826-1830) 482. pl 108 et 
9;—DC. Prodr. III. (1828) 225;—H. = = . Beech. Voy. (1832) 82;—Endl. Fl. 
Bade ue) 181. no. 1452;—A. Gr ray Bot. U. s. E, E. (1854) ane cae: Fi, Vit. 
(186 a —Mann in Proce. Am. Ac “ig “WIL ee 166, et Fl. Haw dies i # fon 
Ess. ad V. (1867) 243;—Wawra in ra (i873) 171;—Mrs. Sin- 
elair ‘ave bese — Isl. oe 5). pL gabe Fl. Haw. Isl. _ (1888) 
125. trosideros U. 8S. E. E. (1854) ag P 68;— Nadeaud 
-~—Me lina Gra 
Enum. Tahit. Pl. srs) no, 484; el Cast. Ill. Fl. Ins. Mar. 2 1 
et Fl. Polyn. Frane, pats 64; ;—Ndz. in Engl. et Prantl im 7. (1893) 87- 
M. lutea Gray Bot. U. S. E. E. (1854) 560 pl. 69, B.—M. villosa Smith in Trans. 
325 
