Leguminosae. 



on the same slopes. At low elevation the plant is entirely glabrous, while just 

 below and above the snow-line it is covered with silvery-gray hair, which pro- 

 tects it from the severe cold which it experiences not only during the winter 

 but also in the summer months. The writer experienced a temperature of 19 

 Fahr. during a night spent on Mauna Kea in the month of July. A few small 

 trees were found on Lanai just above the homestead of the former manager of 

 the Lanai Ranch Co., in a small gulch all by themselves. Whether they were 

 planted there by human hand or by birds cannot be ascertained, but the former 

 may be more reasonable, as they were not found elsewhere on Lanai. 



The wood of the Mamani is exceedingly hard and very durable in the ground. 

 It is therefore mainly used for fence posts by the cattle ranchers on the large 

 estates on Hawaii. On Haleakala, Maui, the trees are of medium size, though 

 reaching a similar development at Auahi as near the volcano at Puaulu. On the 

 upper slopes of Haleakala they are shrubby. The wild cattle and horses, which 

 are very numerous on the upper slopes of Mauna Kea, live almost exclusively 

 on the young leaf shoots of the Mamani during the dry season, when there is 

 no grass available. But, thanks to the hardiness of the trees, which are ex- 

 ceedingly deep-rooted, they are able to withstand these ravages of the descend- 

 ants of Vancouver's cattle. 



The Mamani is peculiar to the Hawaiian Islands, while 8. tomentosa is found 

 in the South Sea Islands, where it grows on the beach. In Viti or Fiji it is 

 known by the name Kau ni alewa, or women's tree. 



Two native beetles infest the Mamani. They belong to the peculiar genus 

 Plagithmysus, and nearly every tree can be seen perforated with small holes, the 

 work of the beetle. But to the credit of the beetle may it be said that they at- 

 tack only trees already in a dying condition. The two species are P. Blackburni 

 and P. Darwinianus. 



ERYTHRINA L. 



Calyx campanulate, truncate, or 5 toothed; vexilum large, conduplicate, alae short, 

 often very small or wanting; carina longer or shorter than the alae, the two petals free 

 or partially connate; vexillary stamens free, or connate with the others which are connate 

 to the middle; ovary stipitate, with several ovules; style subulate, with a small terminal 

 stigma; pod stipitate, linear, curved, compressed or cylindrical, tapering at both ends, 

 contracted between the oval seeds; two valved, sometimes follicular or indehiscent. Trees 

 or erect shrubs with stout, often prickly branches. Leaves pinnately three-foliolate, with 

 glandular etipellae; flowers in terminal or axillary racemes, generally scarlet; bracts and 

 bractlets small or wanting. 



Only one species represented in the islands. The genus, which is distributed 

 over the tropics and subtropics of both hemispheres, consists of thirty species. 

 They range from the Himalayas to tropical West Africa, Brazil, Australia and 

 tropical America, one species being cosmopolitan, with one species in the Ha- 

 waiian Islands, which is, however, found in the other islands of the Pacific. 



189 



