274 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [SEPTEMBER 
eee Basin the Hawaiian Islands were much more closely associated 
th the Andean and South Pacific regions than they are at present. 
aero Begoniaceae comprise 4 genera, of which two are monotypic. 
Begonia, with 400-500 species in tropical and subtropical countries, gives 
the family its name and definition. Begoniella has 3 species in Colombia. 
Symbegonia in New Guinea and Hillebrandia in Hawaii are monotypic 
and little known. As BarLey' remarks, “The begonias are exceedingly 
variable, the genus running into about 60 well-marked sections, but the 
intergradations are so many and the essential floral characters so con- 
stant that it is impracticable to break up the great group into separate 
genera.” 
Considering the family as a whole, it is practically absent from 
the Pacific region. The two great begonia regions are (1) South America 
along the Andes to Mexico; and (2) the eastern Himalayas south- 
eastward to the Malay Peninsula. With the exception of the two 
vestigial and little-known species, one in New Guinea and the other in 
Hawaii, the entire family is now without representation in the far- 
scattered island groups of the southern, equatorial, and northern Pacific 
biological provinces. 
The genus and species found in Hawaii was described by OLIVER 
(Trans. Linn. Soc. 25:361. pl. 46). The generic name is in honor of 
Hawaii’s greatest botanist, Witt1aM HiLteBranp, who resided in the 
islands for many years, made an exhaustive study of the land flora, and 
was the author of Flora of the Hawaiian Islands (1888). Hillebrandia 
differs from Begonia in having the ovary free in its upper third, and in 
bearing petaloid organs in the female flowers; in all other features it 
strongly resembles the true begonias. 
is beautiful and interesting plant is confined to the montane rain 
forest zone. It occurs on all the larger islands of the group, with the 
exception of Hawaii, from which it has not been recorded. Its alti- 
tudinal range is from 3000 to 6000 ft. The islands of Kauai and Maui 
appear to possess this plant in greatest abundance; it is common in the 
upper levels of the former, and occurs in practically all of the wet ravines 
of West Maui and Hale-a-ka-la. In the Koolau Gap of Mount 
Hale-a-ka-la it attains perfection and a height of 6 ft. On the windward 
precipices of the island of Molokai it forms a beautiful drapery, and is 
very showy, although the individual plants are not as fine as those which 
grow in more sheltered localities. On Oahu it is very rare, and is 
restricted to the upper levels of Mount Ka-ala, and a few spots in the 
Punaluu Mountains. It is very shade tolerant and is usually found in 
* BaILey, L. H., Standard cyclopedia of horticulture. 
