1920] 



MacCAUGHEY— TAPESTRY FORESTS 



139 



In altitudinal range the tapestry forests lie mostly between 

 800 and 4500 ft., in hygrophytic situations. In certain localities, as 

 along the Hamakua coast, they extend to sea-level. In numerous 

 situations along the Hawaiian coast are cliffs and low peaks, now 

 arid and xerophytic, which give evidence of having been covered 

 by tapestry rain forest in prehistoric times. 



The steepness, wetness, and general inaccessibility of the 

 tapestry groves have prevented wild cattle and goats from rava- 

 ging them. Thus they have been spared the devastations so 



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Fig. 2. — Oahu tapestry forest; montane rain forest 



abundant and irreparable in the lower forests, and retain a much 

 more primitive aspect. The undergrowth, although relatively 

 scanty, and composed of smaller individuals than is the under- 

 growth of the lower forest, is particularly interesting because of 

 its primitive and undisturbed character. 



Closely related to the tapestry groves, both in ecological char- 

 acters and in floral content, are the groves which inhabit the steep- 

 walled hanging valleys, or high ravines, that are such a characteristic 

 feature of the Hawaiian montane topography. These steep glens, 

 lying at elevations of 800-3000 ft., do not terminate on the level of 

 the valley floor into which their waters debouch, but on the face of 



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