XXIII THE HAWAIIAN MOUNTAIN-FLORA 275 



birds that are known to be frugivorous at times, could have 

 transported seeds of the " Antarctic " flora to this group. We can 

 observe the process in operation in our own time within the limits 

 of the group. It has been long known, and we find it referred to 

 in the pages of Hillebrand's work, that the wild mountain-goose 

 (Bernicla sandwicensis) feeds upon the fruits of Coprosma erno- 

 deoides, and of Vaccinium reticulatum, the famous " ohelo." The 

 fruits of the first are known to the natives as " kukai neenee " 

 (droppings of geese), and the hard stones or pyrenes are very well 

 suited for withstanding the risks of the digestive process. I found 

 a number of these pyrenes in the stomach of a mountain-goose 

 shot by my companion, Dr. Kramer, high up the slopes of Mauna 



Loa. 



According to Mr. Perkins, Chloridops kona, a big Hawaiian 

 finch, feeds on the fruits of the bastard sandal-tree (Myoporum 

 sandwicense). There are no " impossible fruits " among the 

 mountain genera of Hawaii, that is to say, fruits so large that 

 bird agency must be excluded. All of them are practicable in 

 point of size. Thus amongst the largest, the " stones " of Gunnera 

 would not exceed ^ of an inch (5 mm.), and those of Myoporum 

 scarcely I of an inch (6 mm.) ; whilst the nuts of Exocarpus range 

 in the Hawaiian species from ^^ to j% of an inch (7-15 mm.), and 

 the beans of Sophora chrysophylla do not at the most exceed 

 1 of an inch (6 mm.). 



The principal feature, however, which these mountain genera 

 exhibit from the point of view of their dispersal is the number of 

 plants possessing seeds or fruits capable of adhering to plumage. 

 Half of these genera are thus characterised. Of these Sanicula 

 and Acaena represent the ordinary hooked fruits ; whilst the fruits 

 of the Grasses and Sedges, Agrostis, Deschampsia, Trisetum, Poa, 

 Oreobolus, and Uncinia, are enabled by means of their awns or of 

 their serrated beaks to attach themselves to plumage, and the same 

 may be said of the carpels of Geranium. The fruits of Lageno- 

 phora and the seeds of Plantago display the capacity of adhesive- 

 ness by means of a gummy secretion. 



One or two of these genera need further mention. I will first 

 take Acsena, which is spread all over the south temperate zone 

 both on the continents and on the islands. The Hawaiian species 

 (A. exigua) forms tussocky growths on the swampy summits of 

 Mount Eeka in Maui, and in Kauai, at an elevation of 6,000 feet 

 above the sea. Numerous observers refer to the probable mode of 

 dispersal of the genus in the "Antarctic" and neighbouring islands. 



T 2 



