Bubautia plantaginea, here a small tree, in company with Pelea volcanica 

 (Alani). 



Finally tree growth ceases, with the exception of a few straggling shrubs of 

 Sophora chrysophylla (Mamani)j the ground is covered with a scrub vegetation 

 of which Raillardia scabra is predominant, besides Geranium, Coprosma erno- 

 deoides, Fragaria chilensis, and also Plantago pachyphylla. The crypto- 

 gamous flora is composed of Asplenium trichomanes, Asplenium adiantum ni- 

 grum and Polystichum falcatum var. 



At 7000 feet, Sophora chrysophylla and Myoporum sandwicense, both trees 

 of about 20 feet in height at this elevation, have gnarled trunks and form the 

 main tree growth. Keoleria glomerata and Panicum nephelopMlum represent 

 the Gramineae. 



At the summit of Hualalai the vegetation is scrubby, with the exception of 

 a few Ohia lehua trees (Metrosideros polymorpha var. js), with thick, woolly 

 orbicular leaves, which grow on the rim of Honuaulu crater. The crater floors 

 and slopes are covered with the ordinary eagle fern, Pteridium aquilinum, 

 which on the northern side of the mountain summit forms the sole vegetation. 



The slopes of Honuaulu are covered with Styphelia tameiameia (Pukeawe), 

 Dodonaea viscosa var. spathulata, and Coprosma Menziesii. (See plate XIX.) 



The summit of Hualalai is composed of a series of large craters, 200 to 500 

 feet deep and several thousand feet in circumference. The highest point is 

 Honuaulu, 8273 feet above sea level. Some of the walls of the craters are solid 

 or composed of cinder, and almost vertical. In the rock crevasses of the 

 crater walls one frequently meets with the composite Tetramolopium humile, 

 the Hawaiian daisy. 



Northwest from Honuaulu, a half mile distant, is a series of craters and 

 cones, one being especially remarkable for its unfathomable depth. Of these 

 cones there are many. They are usually built up of aa, and have the shape of 

 the well-known tufa cones. The one in question is a veritable chimney, about 

 100 feet high, with a blow-hole of ten feet in diameter, the inner walls of which 

 are perfectly smooth. A stone dropped by the writer in this chimney fell for 

 sixteen seconds before the first reverberation could be heard. Between this cone 

 and Honuaulu is a plain of pahoehoe lava, with a very thin crust which breaks 

 at nearly every step, making it dangerous for man and animal to cross it. 



The slopes of Hualalai, from the Puuwaawaa side, are very steep and bear 

 only one crater of considerable size, at an elevation of 5000 feet. 



This mountain is usually wrapped in clouds and only occasionally the very 

 summit can be seen appearing like a little island above a sea of clouds, while 

 Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea are hardly ever completely hidden from view. 

 (See plate XVIII.) 



Back of Puuwaawaa its wonderful vegetation ceases and its place is taken 

 by the leguminous Sophora chrysophylla and Myoporum sandwicense. Here 

 and there a few composites can still be found and an occasional Euphorbia 



53 



