The Genus Lasenophora in the Hawaiian Islands, 

 with Descriptions of New Species. 



Chari.es N. Forbes. 

 October, 1918. 



The first Hawaiian representative of this small genus of the 

 Compositae was discovered by Horace Mann on the summit of 

 West Maui where it is still a common plant. It also occurs on 

 Eke, a small isolated crater to the west of the summit peak Puu 

 Kukui,' but has not been reported from elsewhere. Two unde- 

 scribed species, noted below, occur in bogs on Kauai, while per- 

 haps these or others may eventually be found in bogs on Molokai, 

 East Maui and Hawaii. The habitats of the Hawaiian species are 

 the open bogs of the humid rain-forests at elevations of 4,000 to 

 6,000 feet. The rainfall in these localities varies from 200 to 600 

 inches per annum with some rain or fog practically every day in 

 the year. 



While on Eke I noticed two forms of L. inavicnsis Mann which 

 at first sight seemed to be distinct varieties, but further study in 

 field and herbarium shows them to be simply variations of a single 

 species. The species and forms may be described as follows: 



Artificial Key to Hawaiian Species. 



Flower heads large, over i cm. in diameter. 



Ray florets entire L. maviensis. 



Ray florets emarginate L. mavicnsis forma ei>iaroiuata. 



Flower heads small, under i cm. in diameter. 



Leaves glabrous L. Erici. 



Leaves hirsute L. Helena. 



■ In conversation with Rev. J. M. Lydgate I learn that the Eeka locality 

 of Dr. Hillebrand is the point now generally known as Puu Kukui, and so 

 recorded on the official maps. This fact is of considerable importance to the 

 student of Hawaiian botany because the two localities have similar though 

 slightly different floras. Eeka is given by Hillebrand as the type locality for 

 some of his species, while in reality Puu Kukui is the place where the plants 

 were collected. It is practically' impossible to reach Eke from Puu Kukui; 

 and I very much doubt if Hillebrand ever visited the locality. There may be 

 some question as to whether Eke and Eeka are the same place. 



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