lo Moiioirs Bcrnicc P. Bishop Museum. 



of hairs, and contribute to form a continuous and thick feUed clothing/ In this 

 latter case the lower surface of the leaves has a silvery or even subaureous appear- 

 ance, as in Pr. Rockiana. Pr. arcciiia, Pr. criopJiora. and Pr. minor. The greater or 

 lesser abundance of the waxy coating, of lepidia. or of tomcntuni, whether on the 

 leaves or on the spadices, should, T believe, be taken as the etTect of the climatic 

 conditions under which a plant is obliged to live, but j^erhaps depends to a still 

 greater degree on the conditions of the environment in which the species was origi- 

 nally formed. 



Species having glaucous and waxy leaves, such as Pr. HiUchrandi and Pr. 

 insigiiis. may be presumed to be still influenced bv the drv climate in which they 

 were originally formed, the waxv coating being one of the most characteristic 

 peculiarities of xerophilous plants. Tn the Hawaiian Islands the great rains and 

 the thick shadows of the damj) and wet forests seem to have been if not the only 

 cause the most active stimulus in producing the subaureate or silvery clothing in 

 the leaves of Pr. Rockiana. Pr. arcciiia: Pr. criopJwra. Pr. minor; and Pr. crio- 

 .';tacli\'a The upper surface of the leaves of these species is green and devoid of 

 any kind of hairiness and also of stomata. The hv])othesis would therefore ap])ear 

 platisible that the great difference existing between the two surfaces is the result 

 of a protective arrangement for the respiratorv organs of the leaves, which are 



present on their lower surfaces onlv. 



Also the soft and woollv hairiness that almost conceals the spadices of 

 Pr. criophora. Pr. criosfaclixa. and Pr. minor in their first youth, and of which they 

 despoil themselves later, in ]Kirt at least, is to be considered as a ])rotective arrange- 

 ment for their voung flowers, against the excessive humidity of the swanii)y forests 

 of the high mountains of Hawaii. 



The appearance of the lower surface of the leaves of Pritchardia is shown 

 in the following prospectus : 



Pr. pacifica Blade green with small elliptical lepidia. 



Pr. Th\tr<;tO)iii Blade waxy-glaucescent and with small lepidia. 



Pr. Maidcniana Blade waxy-glaucescent and with small lepidia. 



Pr. HiUchrandi Blade distinctlv waxy-glaucescent without lepidia. 



Pr. Insi^nis Blade distinctlv waxy-glaucescent without lepidia. 



Pr. rcmofa Blade slightly waxy-glaucescent and with rudimentary 



lepidia. 



Pr. affinis ftviiica") Blade green with i>unctiform lepidia. 



Pr. affinis. V. halophila Blade green with 2'unctiform lepidia. 



Pr. affinis v. rIiopa!ocarpa....V,]^de green with punctiform lepidia. 



Pr. affnis v. o^racilis Blade green without lepidia. 



Pr. lanaicnsis Blade green with rusty, rather cons]MCUous punctiform 



or linear lepidia. 



Pr. glahrafa Blade green with very small lepidia. 



7 Malesia. vol. Ill, t. XXXVHI. f 13 and 15. 



