Araliaceae. 
Tetraplasandra meiandra (Hbd.) Harms. 
(Plates 137, 138, 139.) 
"ncaa ese plreeme MEIANDRA (Hbd.) pe in Eng. et Prantl aioe. Itt, % 
(1898) 30. lial opete ye meiandra Hbé . Haw. Isl. (1888) 152 oe Cast. DL 
Fl. Ins. Mar. Pacif. VI (1890) pee is ndra Waimeae (Ww wra) Heller 
Pr ataw, Ist. (189 7) siete 2 pleurum (?) Waimeae Sedhegicoh in Wark (1873) 
158. (Wawra’ S specific e Waimeae should hold good on nt of priority, 
but as there is already a pent with that name in Tetraplankn aha. Hillebrand’s 
meiandra is here eat sr 0.) 
Leaves 3 to 4.5 em long, the petiole yest at the base and clasping; leaflets 7 to 
13; inflorescence umbellate oa variable: her the Seen at the end of = hse 5 ter- 
minal peduncles (simply umbellate, but shrubs), or at the en say of which 
proceed from the ends of 3 to 5 kee ee latter a united by a common ‘aaa 
; to 8 mm lon 0 
the flowers expand; calyx feria ovate or obovate, with a short denticulate or 
undulate border; petals 5 to 8, triangular or linear lanceolate; stamens as many, oe 
or as long as the petals (in one variety only). Ovary 2 to 6 celled; stigmas 
sessile on the conical vertex, or, when i to 6, raised on a short stylopod, drupe ey lindrieal, 
ovate, oblong, or obovate, or subglobos 
Hillebrand, in his Flora of as peer Islands, says in a fovt note on 
page 152: 
‘Under this collective species I have united the following forms, which are 
exceedingly rare, each corresponding to a single or a few individuals, found in 
closely-cireumscribed localities. ’’ 
He then describes six varieties, as follows :— 
Stigmas 2, rarely 3. 
a. 7 to 12 leaflets. 
B. 7 to 9 leaflets. 
y- 11 leaflets. 
Stigmas 3 (4). 
8. 7 to 9 leaflets. 
Stigmas 3-4-5. 
e. 9 to 13 leaflets. 
Stigmas 4-5-6. 
Leaflets as in 8, drupe ovoid. 
The above key to the varieties of this species can not be relied upon, as one 
may find plants with only 2 stigmas and 13 leaflets, and plants with 4 stigmas, 
6 stamens and 9 leaflets. The specimens from Oahu are more or less shrubs, and 
have rather long rays or peduneles, while the plants from the other islands are 
always trees, and have rather short rays. It is unfortunate that Hillebrand did 
not define them more clearly. However, complete material is not always possible 
to obtain, and therefore an exact diagnosis not always possible, as the stamens 
play an important part in the identification of this very variable species. 
Only such variations are here cited as are trees, and the writer is sorry to 
State that, owing to incomplete material from other varieties occuring in the 
Kohala Mountains, Hawaii, and West Maui mountains, certain trees are here- 
with omitted. They are, however, all referable to Tetraplasandra meiandra. 
It is the writer’s intention later to monograph this interesting family. 
On Hawaii on the lava fields of Puuwaawaa, North Kona, grow a few speci- 
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