Eutaceae. 

 PELEA Gray. 



Flowers polygamous. Calyx lobes 4, rarely 5, imbricate. Lobes of corolla 4, rarely 5, 

 valvate. Stamens 8, rarely 10, inserted at the base of a slightly 8 lobed discus, in the 

 fertile flowers rudimentary, usually the height of the ovary, in the sterile flowers 4, often 

 as long as the petals and occasionally longer and protruding; filaments flat; anthers short 

 ovate or sagittate, introrse. Carpels 4, rarely 5, united, each with two collateral ovules, 

 one ascending, the other pendulous. Capsule of 4 follicles either discreet and 4-coccous 

 or more or less deeply 4-parted, in a few species cuboid; follicles 2-valved. Seeds crus- 

 taceous with black shining testa, on a short and broad funiculus. Embryo straight, in a 

 fleshy albumen, with broad ovate cotyledons and short radicle. Unarmed trees with 

 opposite or whorled leaves, which are simple and entire, and have an intramarginal nerve. 

 Flowers in axillary, simple or compound, mostly paniculate cymes. 



The genus Pelea, which was dedicated by Asa Gray to the Hawaiian goddess 

 of the Volcano, Pele, is not strictly Hawaiian, though the bulk of the species is 

 found in these Islands. A few only occur outside the Hawaiian archipelago, as, 

 for example, three in New Caledonia and one in Madagascar. 



The Hawaiian Pelea are rather difficult for the systematist, as they are ex- 

 tremely variable and have numerous forms and varieties which link several species 

 together. There are, strictly speaking, very few well denned species. The 

 writer in this treatise on the arboreous species of this genus, has added five new 

 species and five new varieties. The work of classifying all the variable species of 

 Pelea was made extremely difficult and troublesome through the publication of 

 supposed new species of Pelea by H. Leveille based on material collected by Abbe 

 U. Faurie, in the year 1910. It certainly is most regrettable that this material, 

 which often is beyond recognition, w r as turned over to Mr. Leveille, who was 

 only too ambitious to swell the number of his new species. The descriptions are 

 so incomplete that it was impossible to make use of them and consequently the 

 work had to be ignored. 



The writer still has numerous plants of Pelea which could not be placed, which 

 are undoubtedly new, but the material is incomplete, either flowers or capsules 

 being lacking, and it certainly would be of no help to describe these plants as 

 new, without complete material, such as sterile and fertile flowers and fruits. 

 Even Hillebrand's descriptions are not too complete, some of them are even 

 dubious, and references to such will be found in their proper places. The writer 

 could also have swelled the number of new species of Pelea as Mr. Leveille did, 

 to the sorrow of future workers on the Hawaiian Flora, but refrained from doing 

 so on account of insufficient material. Of the new species of Pelea described in 

 this book, the writer had abundant and complete material, having visited the 

 various localities at different seasons in order to secure the plants in all stages 

 of development. Leveille describes, if so it can be called, five species of Pelea 

 in Fedde Repertorium Vol. X. no. 10-14, 1911, and 10 species in Vol. X. no. 27-29, 

 1912, the names of all of which are as follows: Pelea Leveillei Faurie, Pelea 

 waianaiensis Levl., P. oahuensis Levl., P. penduliflora Levl., P. Feddei Levl., P. 

 subpeltata Levl., P. nodosa Levl., P. singuliflora Levl., P. peduncularis Levl., P. 



211 



