560 A NATURALIST IN THE PACIFIC 



my notice away from the beach ; and Hillebrand speaks of finding it only 

 at the coast (see page 366). 



Ipomea pes capra, as I observed it in the islands of Hawaii and Oahu, 

 is confined to the beach or to neighbouring sand-dunes. Hillebrand 

 makes no reference to its occurrence inland. This species in these islands 

 offers thus a great contrast to its behaviour in Fiji. 



Sccevola Kcenigii. — Whilst most at home on the sandy beaches, this 

 plant is also frequently met with in the island of Hawaii on scantily 

 vegetated lava-flows near the coast ; but I never noticed it more than a 

 few hundred yards from the sea. 



Tephrosia piscatoria. — Though it may occur on the beach, it is generally 

 found as described by Hillebrand on the rocky or rubbly ground at the 

 back of the beach, as well as further inland. It is common on the old 

 lava-fields of the island of Hawaii near the coast ; and, according to the 

 natives, its seeds are disseminated by the wild goats that frequent these 

 localities. 



Tribulus cistoides. — Hillebrand observes that this plant is found along 

 the sea-shore and on the lower plains. I found it most frequently on the 

 beaches and on the old lava-flows near the sea. 



Vitex trifolia, var. unifoliolata. — It is confined, as Hillebrand remarks, 

 to the beaches. Neither in Oahu nor in Hawaii did I ever find it straying 

 inland, which is the more remarkable since this variety, or one closely 

 similar to it, is one of the most characteristic inland plants of the Fijian 

 strand-flora. 



Vigna lutea.—Th\s plant was found by me growing on the beaches and 

 in their vicinity. Hillebrand merely speaks of it as "growing at short 

 distances from the shore." 



Some of the trees, usually littoral in their station in the tropical Pacific, 

 which are regarded as having been introduced in early times into the 

 Hawaiian group by the Aborigines (see Chapter VII.), behave, neverthe- 

 less, quite like indigenous plants in the inland regions and in the lower 

 levels. This is true, for instance, of Hibiscus tiliaceus and Pandanus 

 odoratissimus, the last-named forming forests at the sea-board extending in 

 places far up the mountain slopes. The same, however, may be said of 

 other plants known to have been introduced since the discovery of the 

 islands, as in the cases of Cactus Tuna and of Ricinus communis ; and it 

 also applies to Aleurites moluccana, the Candle-nut Tree, which, although 

 it could only have been introduced by the Aborigines, now forms forests on 

 the lower slopes of the mountains. 



NOTE 32 (pages 19, 112, 165) 



The Fijian Species of Premna 



I was much interested in the small trees and shrubs of this genus in 

 Fiji, more especially on account of the relation between the shore and 



