Nyctaginaceae. 



a common base. The writer has observed splendid specimens on the Island of 

 Kauai, in the dry districts and gulches below Kaholuamano about 2500 feet 

 above sea level, where it is to be found in company with Cryptocarya Mannii, 

 Hibiscus Waimeae, Vrera sp., Xylosma Hawaiiense {Maua), Osmanthus sand- 

 ivicensis, the native olive, Olopiia or Pua, and others. The tree is conspicuous 

 from the distance on account of its large and very dark-green leaves ; the wood, 

 like that of the other species, is soft, and trees are never cut for the sake of the 

 wood. The flowers, which are arranged in globose heads, are very fragrant and 

 not altogether unattractive. On Lanai, where it does not grow to such a height as 

 on Kauai, it associates with Eauwolfia sandwicensis, Sideroxylon sp., Suttonia 

 Lanaiensis, etc., and thrives best at an altitude of about 2000 feet, on the dry 

 ridges of Kaiholena and Mahana valleys. It has also been recorded from Molokai 

 and Maui. The Aulu flowers usually during the summer months, from June to 

 August, though fruits, which have the same properties as the Papala kepau, may 

 be seen together with flowers on one and the same tree. It is peculiar to the 

 Hawaiian Islands. The largest leafed specimens the writer observed on the lava 

 fields of Kapua, S. Kona, Hawaii, where it is a small tree. 



The wood is very light when dry and very porous ; the branches are very 

 brittle and break easily. 



Pisonia inermis Forst. 



Papala kepau. 



(Plates 52, 53.) 



PISONIA INERMIS Forst. Prodr. (1776) 75. no. 397; — Seem. Fl. Vit. (1866) 195.— 

 P. inermis var. leiocarpa Hbd. Fl. Haw. Isl. (1888) 369. — P. grandis E. Brown 

 Prodr. Nov. Holl. (1810) 422;— H. Mann Proc. Am. Acad. VII (1867) 197;— 

 Heimerl in Engl, et Prantl Pflzfam. III. 1. b. (1889) 29.— P. procera, Bertero, mss; 

 in Guill. Zeph. Tait. (1837) 39;— Delles. Icon. Select. III. t. 87.— P. Brunoniana 

 Eiidl. Fl. Norf. (1833) 43. n. 88;— F. Bauer, Illust. PI. Norf. t. 145.— P. umbelli- 

 fera Del Cast. 111. Fl. Ins. Mar. Pac. VII. (1892) 268 et PI. Polyn. Franc. (1893) 

 157, ex parte. 



Leaves opposite, elliptieo or obovate oblong 8 to 14 cm long,, 3 to 8 cm wide, on 

 petioles of 15 to 20 mm, bluntly acuminate, contracted at the base, thin; flowers mostly 

 hermaphrodite in a loose open panicle of 15 to 35 cm in length; perigone pale, 4 to 6 mm, 

 tubular funnel shaped, the spreading limb entire, plaited with 5 to 10 crenatures; stamens 

 8 to 12 exserted; style as long as the stamens, stigma oblique, not fringed; fruiting peri- 

 gone fusiform 35 mm long, 5-ribbed. 



This tree, as well as Pisonia umbellifera, is known to the natives as Papala 

 Kepau (kepau being the general name for substances such as tar, pitch, etc.), 

 on account of the viscid glue which exudes from the fruits. It is a small tree 15 

 to 18 feet high, with elliptical-oblong thin leaves ; it differs from the other two 

 species in its large, loose panicle and in the flowers, which have the perigone not 

 parted but entire. It inhabits the dry or semi-dry districts. It may be found in 

 gulches back of Makawao, Island of Maui, in company with Pelea cinerea, Xan- 

 thoxylum sp., Pseudomorus Brunnoniana, etc., as well as on the lava fields of 

 Auahi, crater of Haleakala. On Hawaii it grows on the outskirts of the lava fields 



147 



