THE PHANEROGAMS ()!• 1-ASTER ISLAND 



77 



2. Plants now occurring in a wild or semi-wild state but reported to 

 have been intentionally introduced by the first native immigrants. 



There is a tradition that all the plants of economic importance were in- 

 troduced and brought into cultivation by the party of the chief Hotu Matua, 

 who was the first to reach Easter Island. Of the few plants mentioned below 

 this ma)' be true, although proofs are wanting, but, on the other hand, it is 

 not altogether impossible that species such as Cordyline terminalis, Triumfetta 

 semitriloba or Tluspcsia populnca belonged to the original flora, and that the 

 immigrants were acquainted with their useful qualities and started to propagate 

 them. KnochE (1. c. p. io) regards all the plants used for industrial or 

 medicinal purposes as only naturalized and not wild, but when he includes 

 Sophora toromiro among these he is wrong, for we have seen that it is an 

 endemic species, and its nearest relatives, the Chilean and New Zealand 

 species of this genus, do not belong to the widely dispersed oceanic plants, 

 but have a very restricted geographical range; nor have they ever been in 

 cultivation as far as I am aware. It is of course not quite impossible that 

 the islanders, seeing that the precious toromiro was rapidly vanishing, tried to 

 propagate it, but there is no reliable evidence that they did so. 



Liliaceae. 

 Cordyline Comm. 



C. terminalis Kunth. 



In the crater of Rano Kao, on the south side between large stones, c. 

 125 m, scarce (no. 693); see also FuENTES 1. c. 



Area of distribution: Indo-Mal. region, N. Guinea, Austral., Polyn., N. 

 Zeal., formerly cultivated by the Maoris. 



Moraceae. 

 Broussonetia Vent. 



B. papyrifera Vent. 



»Crater of Rano Kao, abundant, but mature trees not numerous*: Alba- 

 tross no. 58! — We found a number of trees on the stony slope near the pond 

 (no. 670); they agree with the ordinary plant as represented in the Kew Herb. 



F. foliis subtnlobis grosseserratis magis scabris: with the former (no. 

 1 147). In the Kew Herb, there is the same or closely allied forms from Oahu 

 (Seeman, Macrae), Fiji (Herald), Nagasaki (Oldham) and Siam. Inter- 

 mediate forms occur also in Easter Island. 



FUENTES calls the mahute »B. aft', papyracea Vent.» adding: »su clasi- 



