554 A NATURALIST IN THE PACIFIC 



Ipomea glaberrima, Morinda citrifolia, Pandanus odoratissimus, Scaevola 

 Koenigii, Sesuvium Portulacastrum, Thespesia populnea, and Vigna lutea. 

 This shore-belt of characteristic littoral plants is backed by vegetation more 

 inland in its character, amongst which Aleurites moluccana, Dodonaea 

 viscosa, Erythrina monosperma, Ipomea insularis, I. bona nox, Osteomeles 

 anthyllidifolia, &c, are to be observed. Such a shore-belt of typical 

 littoral plants is rarely to be found in the large island of Hawaii ; and its 

 usual position at the margin of cliffs, and raised 20 or 25 feet above the 

 sea, is rather suggestive of an uplift in recent times of this part of the 

 coast. 



Between Kapa-ahu and Kalapana is a low country occupied mostly by 

 Guavas, and often turfy. At Kalapana, which is a large village situated on 

 a grassy plain by the sea, Coco palms and Pandanus trees abound, and 

 Mucuna gigantea and Caesalpinia Bonducella are frequent near the coast, 

 whilst Ipomea pes caprae is common on the beach. Calophyllum ino- 

 phyllum is planted near the houses. Here Osteomeles anthyllidifolia in its 

 dwarfed form descends to the edge of the cliffs. About half a mile beyond 

 Kalapana is the hamlet of Kaimu, and here among the Coco palms close 

 to the beach I noticed four Loulu palms (Pritchardia Gaudichaudii). 

 Beyond Kaimu the trees and shrubs of the inland wood, Metrosideros 

 polymorpha, Cyathodes tameiameias, &c, descend on the spurs of old lava- 

 flows close to the coast ; whilst Pandanus and Morinda citrifolia with 

 Mucuna gigantea are common near the sea as far as Kehena, where there 

 are plenty of Coco palms. I approached Opihikao through as fine a Pan- 

 danus forest as I have ever seen, the large Bird's Nest Fern (Asplenium 

 nidus) growing half-way up their trunks, adding picturesqueness to the 

 scene, whilst Mucuna gigantea was a common climber. Beyond Opihikao 

 the inland woods descend to the coast. Thence on to Makuu the coasts 

 are mostly occupied by Pandanus forests, and the lower coast road from 

 Makuu to Hilo traverses a region where these Pandanus trees abound, 

 extending far inland. Scaevola Koenigii and Ipomea pes caprae are common 

 on the coast near Coco-nut Island, Hilo Bay. 



It may be added that the agency of the wild goat explains the dispersal 

 of Myoporum sandwicense, Morinda citrifolia, Tephrosia piscatoria, Wal- 

 theria americana, &c, over the almost bare surfaces of the lava flows on 

 the Puna coast. Goat droppings were frequent under the patches of Myo- 

 porum and Waltheria. In some of them I found the entire seeds of 

 Portulaca oleracea and the small cocci of Euphorbia pilulifera, weeds 

 common in the district. 



(2) Coasts of the Kalae Promontory and its Vicinity, Hawaii.— -This is 

 the most southerly portion of the group, and it is on the eastern coasts 

 of this district that many of the North American drift logs are embayed 

 and stranded. At Kamilo, to the east of the promontory, there is a long 

 beach of calcareous sand where Heliotropium anomalum, Scaevola Koenigii, 

 and Tribulus cistoides grow in abundance, whilst Sesuvium Portulacastrum 



