Malvaceae. 

 KOKIA Lewton. 



Tree 4 to 8 m high, woody throughout. Flowers single in the axils of the upper- 

 most leaves; peduncle bearing below the middle a broadly sessile, obliquely clasping cadu- 

 cous, ovate bract. Bracteoles 3, persistent, accrescent, ovate, entire, sinuate or slightly- 

 lobed, narrowed at the base, not in the least auriculate, coriaceous, glabrous, strongly 

 reticulated, 7 to 13 nerved. Calyx urceolate, thin scarious, punctate with black warts; 

 lobes 5, shallow, rounded, the scarious almost hyaline margins overlapping and completely 

 enclosing the bud. Calyx tube often with median transverse vein, the upper half of the. 

 calyx usually soon breaking off at this point, giving the appearance of being truncate. 

 At the base of the calyx at the point of insertion of the petals there is a ring of stifE' 

 brownish hairs. Floral nectary naked, extra floral nectaries not evident. Corolla two to 

 three times the length of the bracteoles, red. Ovary 5-celled, with one ascending ovum 

 in each cell. Capsule ovoid, ligneous, opening tardily. Seeds ovoid, sharply angled' 

 on the ventral side, rounded on the dorsal, covered with short brick-red tomentam.. 

 Cotyledons punctuate with black dots. Bark containing a reddish brown sap. 



This genus established by Lewton consists of two species and one variety. The- 

 type is Kokia Bockii Lewton, no. 691082 in the U. S. National Herbarium. The 

 co-type is in the Herbarium, College of Hawaii, no. 3549. 



The writer sent specimens of this plant to Mr. Fairchild, agricultural explorer- 

 in charge of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C, at his., 

 request, as there were no specimens of this plant in the U. S. Nat. Herbarium, 

 Mr. Fairchild 's attention having been called to this interesting plant in the- 

 writer's report to the Board of Commissioners of Agriculture and Forestry, 

 1910. The plants were sent under the name Gossypium drynarioides Seem., withi 

 the remark that it is at least a new variety of the plant by the above name, whicK 

 is found on Molokai, while the writer's material came from a new locality: 

 slopes of Mt. Hualalai, lava fields of Puuwaawaa, Kona, Hawaii. The specimens^ 

 with additional notes on the living trees, were furnished Mr. Lewton, who then 

 proceeded to describe the plant under a new genus. Specimens of the- 

 original Gossypium drynarioides Seem, from Molokai were also sent. Hille- 

 brand found one tree on Oahu, with lanceolate bracts, which he called variety 

 /3. Mr. Lewton named this variety Kokia lanceolata on the strength of a few 

 scraps of lanceolate bracts in the Gray Herbarium. The writer does not think 

 it justifiable to create a new species on such incomplete material and more or- 

 less on the strength that it grew on another island. The writer knows, the Ha- 

 waiian flora thoroughly, and is well acquainted with tremendous variations found^' 

 in all Hawaiian plants, and therefore prefers to retain the varietal rank rather' 

 than specific. The plant in question has, however, become extinct. The fact, 

 that Lewton 's third species grows on another island is not sufficient to make it 

 a species. Besides, Makapuu Point, on Oahu, where Hbd's var, p grew, iss 

 exactly opposite the point on Molokai where Kokia drynarioides grows, and iSi 

 only about 25 miles distant. 



KEY TO THE SPECIES. 



Bracts broadly obovate, 6.5 cm x 8 cm K. Rockii 



Bracts broadly ovate, entire, 2.5 to 3 cm x 2.5 cm K. drynarioides j 



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