NO. 17 SMITHSONIAN EXPLORATIONS, IQ16 63 
the primitive customs still prevail. Here may be found the grass 
huts of the natives. These huts are made of a frame work of wood 
filled in with a thatch of grass. The grass used for this purpose is 
usually pili (//eteropogon contortus), an indigenous grass abundant 
upon the rocky soil of the lowlands. 
The cultivated trees and shrubs are of great variety and beauty, 
and are drawn from all tropical and subtropical lands. The intro- 
duced flora is very pronounced in the region of the towns, ranches, 
and plantations. One must go several miles from Honolulu to find 
indigenous plants. Of 60 species of grasses found on Oahu about 
50 were introduced. One of the introduced trees of great economic 
Fic. 66.—View in the garden in Honolulu, formerly owned by Dr. William 
Hillebrand, author of “ Flora of the Hawaiian Islands,” showing a tropical tree 
with brace roots. 
importance is the algaroba tree, or kiawe, as the Hawaiians call it 
(Prosopis julifora). It is found in a belt on the lowlands along the 
shores of all the islands and occupies the soil almost to the exclusion 
of other plants. The pods are very nutritious and are eagerly eaten 
by all kinds of stock. The flowers furnish an excellent quality of 
honey. The Molokai ranch produces 150 to 200 tons of strained 
honey per year. The prickly pear cactus (a species going under 
the name of Opuntia tuna) has become extensively naturalized in 
the dryer portions of all the islands. The ranchmen utilize this 
for feed when other kinds become scarce, the cattle eating the 
