Plants Used as Perfujies. 



The newly made kapa had an unpleasant odor, as is the case with most felted or 

 textile fabrics, and the Hawaiians used many odoriferous plants to stifle the malodor 

 of the manufacture. Some of these would not be pleasant to European nostrils, but 

 some, as the sandal-wood, are generally liked, and on these islands are much used as 

 perfumes to the present day. I shall make the list as small as possible with due re- 

 gard to the importance the natives attached to the use of these perfumes, some of which 

 are distinctl}- perceptible after many 3'ears in carefull}- preserved specimens of kapa. 



Pelea A. Gray, in Bot. Amer. Expl. Exp., 339. — Flores pol3^gami. Calj'x 

 quadripartitus, asstivatione imbricatus, cito deciduus. Petala 4, gestivatione valvata, 

 mox decidua. Stamina 8 : filamenta subulata v. complanata, fl. fert. breviora saepius- 

 que antheris (sagittatis) cassis donata. Discus h3'pogynus brevissimus, integer, sen 

 octocrenulatus. Ovarium quadriloculare (loculis petalis oppositis), quadrilobiim, 

 ssepius umbilicatum : st3-lus centralis : stigma quadrilobum. Ovula in loculis gemina, 

 hemitropa, adscendentia. Capsula quadripartita, stellariformis (coccis divaricatis), 

 loculicida ; endocarpio chartaceo ab exocarpio coriaceo seu lignescente solubili. Semi- 

 na in loculis saepissime bina, ovoidea, testa nitente drupacea. Embr3'o intra albumen 

 carnosum rectus; cotyledonibus ovalibus; radicula supera. — Arbores Sandwicenses 

 (necnon Samoenses), inermes, odoratse; foliis simplicibus integerrimis oppositis seu 

 verticillatis coriaceis punctatis venosissimis, venis in venulam intramarginalem plus 

 minus confluentibus; floribus axillaribus. (A. G.) 



P. anisata Mann, in Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., x, 314. — A slender tree 



15-20 ft. high. Leaves opposite, oblong, 3-7X1^-2% iii-i 011 petioles of i in., obtuse 



or rounded at both ends, or emarginate with an attenuate base, chartaceous. Flowers 



small, 1-3 or more on a common axis. Capsule thick coriaceous, small cuboid, 



subentire, the outer faces marked onl3^ b3^ a shallow notch, the axis remaining entire 



after dehiscence. All parts of the tree, but especiall3' the capsules, emit a strong 



odor of anise when bruised. The native name is Mokihana^ a word meaning also a 



smell or perfume. The capsules were strung for Icis as shown at the bottom of 



Fig. 97, the capsules having after a lapse of a dozen 3'ears still a strong anise odor. 



On Kauai, at least, it seems to have been the favorite perfumer, the threaded capsules, 



or the twigs of leaves being placed among the sheets of kapa. The native name of 



the genus is Alani, a tough wood used for making kapa-beaters. The species most 



preferred for this pixrpose was P. saudivicensis. 



(163) 



