ALPHABETICAL LIST OF HAWAIIAN NAMES OF PLANTS. 



The following list of Hawaiian plant-names has been compiled 

 from various sources. Hillebrand in his valuable Flora of the 

 Hawaiian Islands has given many Hawaiian names, especially 

 of the more common species ; these are incorporated in this list 

 with a few corrections. Nearly all Hawaiian plant-names found 

 in this list and not in Hillebrand's Flora were secured from Mr. 

 Francis Gay of the Island of Kauai, an old resident in this Terri- 

 tory and well acquainted with its plants from a layman's stand- 

 point. It was the writer's privilege to camp with Mr. Gay in the 

 mountains of Kauai collecting botanical material; for almost 

 every species he could give the native name, which he had se- 

 cured in the early days from old and reliable natives. Mr. Gay 

 had made spatter prints of many of the native plants in a large 

 record book with their names and uses, as well as their symbolic 

 meaning when occurring in mele (songs) or olioli (chants), at- 

 tached to them. 



For all this information the writer is indebted mainly to Mr. 

 Francis Gay and also to Mr. Augustus F. Knudsen of the same 

 Island. The writer also secured Hawaiian names from old na- 

 tives and Kahunas (priests) in the various islands of the group. 



It is sad to relate that this interesting knowledge is fast dis- 

 appearing; only the very old people are able to give reliable in- 

 formation, while the middle-aged class perhaps has heard of the 

 various Hawaiian plant-names but cannot associate them with the 

 particular plants. With few exceptions the young generation 

 of Hawaiians knows nothing of folk lore and less of plants and 

 the uses for which their ancestors valued them. 



The names of plants vary on the different islands, and so it 

 happens that a particular species might be known by three or 

 four names. There is a close resemblance of Hawaiian names of 

 plants and Tahitian and New Zealand plant names of related 

 species; as for example the Hawaiian IE IE (Freycinetia Arnotti) 

 and the New Zealand Kie kie (Freycinetia Bank si) of the same 

 genus ; numerous instances of this sort may be cited. The 

 scientific names are according to Engler and Prantl's Natiirliche 

 Pflanzenfamilien and the laws of nomenclature as set forth in the 

 Botanical Congress of Vienna (1905). 



