41 



feet long, with thick, short petioles. On young plants and shoots 

 the leaves are frequently very much larger than normal; dwarf 

 leaves are common on the fruiting branches. The shape is 

 variable, on different trees and on different parts of the same 

 tree. In general it is ovate or oblong, cuneate and entire at the 

 base, with the upper part three to nine pinnately lobed. The 

 lobes are acute or somewhat obtuse; the margin is smooth. The 

 texture of the leaf is coriaceous, the old leaves becoming very 

 leathery; the surface is glossy, scabrous, with minute, scattering, 

 appressed hairs. The color above is a rich, dark green, very dark 

 and heavy in the old foliage; the under surface is pale green. 

 The venation is strong and conspicuous. The petioles, green 

 parts of the branches, and peduncles are covered with very short, 

 fine, harsh hair. The two stipules are very large, showy, axillary, 

 free, and furled about the bud, but soon deciduous. They leave 

 conspicuous amplexicaul annular scars on the twigs. 



No special uses are known for the leaves of the Hawaiian Ulu 

 but Melville gives an interesting account of the Marquesan form: 



"The leaves of the bread-fruit are of great size, and their 

 edges are cut and scalloped as fantastically as those of a lady's 

 lace collar. As they annually tend toward decay, they almost 

 rival, in the brilliant variety of their gradually changing hues, the 

 fleeting shades of the expiring dolphin. The autumnal tints of 

 our American forests, glorious as they are, sink into nothing in 

 comparison with this tree. 



"The leaf, in one particular stage, when nearly all the prismatic 

 colors are blended on its surface, is often converted by the natives 

 into a superb and striking head-dress. The principal fibre 

 traversing its length being split open a convenient distance and 

 the elastic sides of the aperture pressed apart, the head is inserted 

 between them, the leaf drooping on one side, with its forward 

 half turned jauntily up on the brows, and the remaining part 

 spreading laterally behind the ears."* 



The breadfruit leaves in Hawaii do not assume the gorgeous 

 coloring described by Melville, but they do change to beautiful 

 yellows and russets. Melville's account is probably somewhat 



* Herman Melville, Typee, 1846. 



