185 



They are not known to have had any special uses for the tree, 

 and beyond question did not introduce it from the South Pacific, 

 as they did many other useful Polynesian plants. It has probably 

 occupied the Hawaiian Islands since very remote times, in which 

 the topography of the Central Pacific was very different from that 

 of the present era. There may have been extensive land-con- 

 nections unth Asia; there is much biological evidence to support 

 this hypothesis. 



The tree is small and flat-crowned, 6-25 ft. high. It is often a 

 tall shrub, with one or more trunks and a few bold, wide-spread- 

 ing branches. It is a rapid grower, under favorable conditions. 

 The terminal twigs are often 40-60 cm. long. The roots are 

 fleshy. Like many other spe:ies of RJni-s it often sends up nu- 

 merous shoots from the roots, and forms dense clumps. In 

 early times, before the lowlands were invaded with foreign vegeta- 

 tion, these clumps were much more extensive and numerous than 

 at present. The branches are so pithy and brittle that they are 

 often more or less mutilated. The crown usually contains man 

 often more or less mutilated. The crown usually contains 

 many dead branches and twigs. 



The trunk is 20-35 cm. in diameter, and smooth-barked. 

 The sap is milky, viscid, and resinous. The pith becomes pale 

 brown. The wood is soft, very light in weight, tough, yellowish 

 gray in color, with darker streaks. The sapwood is lighter than 

 the hearLwood. The grain is rather coarse, but the wood takes 

 a smooth polish. It was formerly used by the planters for ox- 

 plows. It weighs about 27 lbs. per cu. ft. Its specific gravity is 

 about .43. The pith rays are fine and inconspicuous. The 

 ducts are scattered through the seasonal rings, i. e., diffuse 

 porous. 



The twigs are stout, pithy, and brittle. They stand out at 

 angles of 30-90 from the branches. They are leafy at the tips 

 and bare below. They are covered throughout with thin, smooth, 

 brown bark. The younger twigs are often tunneled by borers 

 and ants. The Icnticels are numerous, large, corky, prominent, 

 and lighter brow^n than the bark. The petiole scars are large, 

 prominent, heart-shaped, with prominent bundle scars. The 



