262 



obovate, about the size and shape of a small pear, 3 inches in 

 diameter, umbilicate at the top and crowned by the truncate 

 scars of the calyx lobes. The very thin, smooth skin is rich 

 crimson, pale pink, or rarely white; the highly colored fruits 

 have a very attractive appearance. The flesh is firm and apple- 

 like, sometimes a trifle fibrous, but filled with a cool, sugary, 

 sub-acid juice, that has a crisp, pleasant flavor. The fruiting 

 season varies greatly, dependent upon the elevation of the tree, 

 but the main season is mid-summer, and at this time the fruits 

 are common in the Honolulu markets. 



A rare variety of this tree has white flowers and fruits; this is 

 known to the Hawaiians as Ohia ai hua keo-keo. The wood of 

 the Ohia ai, like that of the Ohia ha, was formerly used by the 

 natives for house and temple timbers, but is not put to commercial 

 use now, save occasionally as firewood. Like other members of 

 the Eugenia group, the bark is astringent, and was sometimes 

 used by the natives for medicine. 



There are only two indigenous Eugenias in the Hawaiian 

 Islands, E. sandwicensis Gray, and E. rariflora Benth. The 

 Ohia ai, although thoroughly naturalized, cannot be considered 

 indigenous. Eugenia sandwicensis (classed as Syzygium sandwi- 

 censis by Niedenzu in Engler and Prantl) is known to the natives 

 as Ohia ha; on the island of Maui it is called Pa-ihi. It is a tall 

 tree of 40 to 60 feet, with a trunk of 12 to 18 inches in diameter. 

 The smooth brown bark is readily distinguished from that of the 

 Ohia lehua {Metrosideros polymorpha). The wood is reddish, 

 hard, fine-grained, and durable; it was formerly used in the con- 

 struction of native houses and temples. The branches are 

 angular and sharply margined. The leaves are obovate or 

 obovate-oblong, on petioles of 3^ inch; obtuse, subcoriaceous, 

 dark green or sometimes yellowish with red venation. Hille- 

 brand records a variety parvifolia, with leaves 1 3^ to 2 ins. long 

 by I to 134 ins. broad. 



The cymes are simple or compound in the axils of the upper 

 leaves; the common peduncle is angular and elongate, i-i}^ 

 ins. long; the pedicels are minute, articulate, and bibracteolate 

 below the calyx; bractlets small, triangular. The calyx is 



