16 DERIVATION OF THE FLORA OF HAWAII 



Lobeliaceae, forming one of the most marked features of the Hawaiian 

 flora. Most of these are woody plants, sometimes assuming almost tree- 

 like proportions, twenty or thirty feet in height. The most important 

 genera are Clermontia and Cyanea. 



Climbing plants are relatively scarce among the indigenous plants. 

 At the lower elevations species of Ipomoea and Passiflora as well as sev- 

 eral leguminous creepers are often abundant, but these are mostly recent 

 introductions. 



There is a marked scarcity of conspicuous flowers among the native 

 plants. First in importance is Metrosideros polymorpha, whose masses 

 of crimson flowers are extremely showy. Some of the Lobelias have rather 

 attractive flowers, and occasionally one encounters a native Hibiscus with 

 large white, pink, or yellow flowers. Some species of Cyrtandra and 

 Scaevola, genera abundant in the Malayan Islands, have attractive 

 flowers, and one of the few native climbers, Strongylodon lucidum, at 

 once attracts attention by its clusters of very showy scarlet flowers. 



A marked feature of the Hawaiian flora is the complete absence 

 of conifers, which are wanting throughout Polynesia except in Fiji. 

 There are a number of other forms which one might expect which are 

 also absent. Thus the widespread genus Ficus is entirely unrepre- 

 sented, and the large family Araceae has no certainly indigenous rep- 

 resentatives. Hillebrand gives but two species, both of which have 

 almost certainly been introduced by man. The scarcity of orchids is 

 also very striking, there being but three species known, these belong- 

 ing to as many genera. Two of the genera, Liparis and Habenaria, 

 are cosmopolitan, the third, Anoectochilus, being Polynesian and Indo- 

 Malayan. There are no native Scitamineae, although species of Musa, 

 Zingiber, Curcuma, Canna and Hedychium have become thoroughly 

 naturalized. The Iris family has a single native representative, Sisyryn- 

 chium acre. 



Of the non-endemic genera a few are cosmopolitan, e. g., Rubus, 

 Ranunculus, Lepidium, Silene, Geranium, Hibiscus; but a majority 

 belong to the South Pacific regions and the adjacent Asiatic mainland. 

 Such, for example, are Pittosporum, Pandanus, Freycinetia, Gardenia, 

 Dracaena, Phyllanthus. A few genera are apparently of Australian 

 origin, e. g., Byronia, Pseudomorus, Acacia. Among those suggesting a 

 connection with New Zealand are Coprosma, Gunnera, Acaena, Lage- 

 nophora. 



Among the most striking of the Hawaiian plants is Gunnera petal- 

 oidea. It grows in the wettest regions, at elevations of about 4,000 feet, 

 where its enormous leaves arrest the attention of the most casual ob- 

 server. This genus occurs in Chile and in the Malayan Archipelago as 



