Buphorbiaceae. 



stamens about 200; female flowers: calyx 2 to 3 mm, sepals ovate, glands 3, oblong, nearly 

 the size of the sepals; ovary tomentose or silky; styles short, spreading; capsule dividing 

 into 3 cocci, 5 mm high and 6 mm broad, deeply furrowed; seeds globose, rugose; embryo 

 axile, cotyledons orbicular, twice as long as the radicle. 



The Poola is a very small, soft-wooded tr^e, reaching a height of not more 

 than 15 to 18 feet, rarely 20. The trunk is usually branching 6 to 8 feet above 

 the ground with pale, spreading branches, forming rather an unsymmetrical 

 crown. 



On East Maui, on the southern slopes of Haleakala, on the lava fields of 

 Auahi, it grows to a small tree at an elevation of 2000 to 2500 feet, in company 

 with Aleetryon, Xanthoxylum, Xylosma, Pelea, Tetraplasandra, etc. On Ha- 

 waii it is not uncommon on the lava fields of Puuwaawaa, where it is a small 

 tree. The plants from the latter locality differ somewhat from those of other 

 localities, in that their leaves turn to a steel-blue color on drying, and in some 

 other minor points. On Lanai, the Poola is most plentiful in the valleys of 

 Kaiholena and Mahana. It is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. No record 

 remains as to the usefulness of this tree. 



The second Hawaiian species, C. tomentosum (Hbd.) Heller, is a shrub, and 



occurs on Kauai only. 



ALEURITES Forst. 



Monoecious to almost dioecious. Male flowers: calyx irregularly 2 to 3 cleft. Petals 

 longer than the calyx. Stamens inserted on a conical receptacle, in 1 to 4 whorls, the 5 

 cuter ones epipetalous. Alternipetalous disc-glands 5, without rudimentary ovary. Fe- 

 male flowers: corolla the same as in the male flower. Disc much reduced. Ovary 2 to 5- 

 eelled. Style divided into two thick, linear branches; stone fruit indehiscent, exocarp 

 thin, eudocarp crusty, 2 to 5 celled. Testa thick, woody. Albumen thick, hard, very 

 oily. — Trees with stellate pubescence. Leaves alternate, long petioled, large, 5 to -7 

 nerved at the base, entire or 3 to 5 to 7-lobed; peduncle at the apex with two glands. Flow- 

 ers in loose, widely branched cymose corymbs. 



A small genus of 3 to 5 species, of which A. moluccana (L.) Willd. is the 

 most common and widely distributed species; it occurs in the tropics and sub- 

 tropics of the old world, in the West Indies and Brazil, Pacific islands, etc. 



Aleurites moluccana (L.) Willd. 



Kukui. 



(Plate 99.) 



ALEUEITES MOLUCCANA (L.) Willd. Sp. PI. IV. (1805) 590;— Mull. Arg. in DC. Prodr. 

 XV. 2. (1866) 723;— H. Mann Proc. Am. Acad. VII. (1867) 203;— Seem. PI. Vit. 

 (1867) 223;— Nadeaud Enum. Tahit. Plants (1873) No. 462;— Hbd. Fl. Haw. Isl. 

 (1888) 400;— Del Cast. 111. PI. Ins. Mar. Pac. VII. (1892) 289, et Fl. Polyn. 

 Franc. (1893) 183;— Pax in Engl, et Prantl Pflzfam. III. 5. (1896) 73. fig. 44;— 

 Heller PI. Haw. Isl. (1897) 842.— Brigham Ka Hana Kapa (1911) 138, fig. 84.— 

 Jatropha moluccana. Linn. Spec PI. ed. 1. (1753) 1006.— Aleurites triloba Forst. 

 Char. Gen. (1776) 112. t. 56., et Prodr. (1786) no. 360, et Incon. (ined. cf. Seem.) 

 t. 262;— Hook, et Arn. Bot. Beech. (1832) 69, et 95;— Endl Fl. Suds. (1836) no. 

 1554;— Guill. Zeph. Tait. (1836-37) no. 180;— Jardin lies Marqu. (1858) 25.— 

 Telopia perspicua Soland. Prin. Fl. Ins. Pac. (1858) 332, et in Park. Draw. Tah. 

 PI. 105, et. 106 (ined. cf. Seem.).— Camirium moluccanum 0. Ktze. Eev. Gen. PI. II. 

 (1891) 595. 

 Leaves of variable shape, ovate or rhombeo-lanceolate, undivided or 3, 5 to 7 lobed, 



with triangular acuminate lobes, pale, with the rib and nerves tomentose; corymb 10 to 



255 



