KEY TO THE SPECIES. 



Stipes tubereulate, and clothed with long blaekiah-brown hairs C. Menziesii 



Stipes smooth and glabrous in the upper portion C. Chamissoi 



Cibotium Menziesii Hook. 



Hapu Hi or Heii. 



(Plates 28, 29.) 



CIBOTIUM MENZIESII Hook. Spec. Pil. I. (1846) 84, t. 29 c;— Brack. Pil. XJ. S. E. E. 

 (1854) 280;— H. Mann. Proc. Am. Acad. VII. (1867) 212;— Hbd. Fl. Haw. Isl. 

 (1888) 546;— Heller in Minues. Bot. Stud. IX. (1897) 776;— Diels in Engl, et Prantl 

 Pflzfam. I. 4, (1902) 121;— Christens. Index Fil. (1906) 183;— Eobinson in Bui. 

 Torr. Bot. Cl. 39, (1912) 243.— C. pruinatum Metten et Kuhn in Linnaea, 36, 

 (1869) 150.— Diksonia Menziesii Hook, et Bak. Syn. (1866) 49 et II ed. (1874) 

 49;— Del Cast. 111. PI. Ins. Mar. Pac. VII (1892) 356. 

 Stipes green, stout, with a ventral and two lateral furrows, tubereulate and shaggy 

 at the base with a straightish and long brownish yellow glossy fiiiJu which changes higher 

 ujj into stiff long blackish hair, and as such often covers the entire stipes; frond with 

 stipes 18 to 36 dm or more long and 9 to 15 dm or more broad, pyramidal-oblong, coriace- 

 ous, naked underneath or sometimes with minute furfuraceous dots; the rhachis asperous 

 with scattering tubercles; pinnae with a stipe of 25 to 50 mm, oblong, 4.5 to 7.5 dm 

 long, bearing 18 to 24 pairs of free pinnules besides the pinnatifid apex; most pinnules 

 shortly stipitate, linear lanceolate, acute, cut halfway or more, often to the rhachis at 

 the base, into oblong rounded or entire segments, which are separated by broad sinuses; 

 veinlets very prominent, simple or forked; sori 8 to 14 on a lobe, also fringing the sinus. 

 Invol. corneous, large, a little more than 1 mm to nearly 3 mm in width, the outer valve 

 fornicate and large, the inner flat and narrower. 



Cibotium Menziesii or Hapu Hi of the natives is the most stately tree fern 

 of the Hawaiian forests. Nowhere in the islands does this handsome fern reach 

 such a wonderful development as on Hawaii in the forests of Puna, Hilo, and 

 especially in the Kohala mountains. In the district of Paauhau, on the wind- 

 ward slopes of Mauna Kea (13823 feet) the writer saw the biggest specimens. 



The fibrous trunks of these immense ferns have often a diameter of three 

 feet and reach a height of about 24 feet or so, not including the almost erect 

 fronds, which measure occasionally more than 12 feet, giving it a total height 

 of sometimes 36 feet. Thanks to the hardiness of these ferns, they were and are 

 able to withstand attacks from cattle, and even when uprooted by wild pigs, and 

 laid prostrate, they continue to grow. 



Nothing is more beautiful than a stand of pure Ohia forest with trees of 

 about 80 feet in height, when growing together with this beautiful fern, which 

 forms the dense undergrowth. Their bright-green fronds produce a pleasing 

 contrast to the rather grayish Ohia lehua trees, which contrast is enhanced when 

 the latter are displaying their beautiful red blossoms. Such a forest, when not 

 in the vicinity of human dwellings, is inhabited by native birds of all colors, red 

 (the Uwi), however, predominating. These birds feed on the pollen of the Ohia 

 flowers, and can be seen in great numbers, often sitting on the bright-green 

 fronds of the majestic tree ferns. 



The Hapu Hi occurs, however, on all the islands at an elevation of from 2000 

 to 6000 feet and perhaps higher. Ordinarily the trunks are not taller than 8 

 feet or so, but, as already mentioned, the fern reaches its best development on 



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