Araliaeeae. 



mens of a tree which may be referred to Hillebrand's var y. It is a medium- 

 sized tree 35 feet or so in height, with bright-green imparipinnate foliage. The 

 inflorescence, which is compound umbellate, arises usually in the axil of the two 

 uppermost branehlets. 



On Maui, on the lava fields of Auahi, situated on the southern slopes of Hale- 

 akala, grows a beautiful tree which has to be referred to variety <5, though differ- 

 ing from the plants on Lanai; the drupes of var. 8 resemble very much var. t, 

 which see. It is a handsome tree of 50 feet or so in height, with a trunk of almost 

 two feet in diameter. The trunk is perfectly straight and vested in a smooth 

 gray bark. The branches are thick and ascending, bearing at their ends large 

 leaf-whorls, underneath which are umbels with small greenish flowers. 



The writer found many varieties from new localities, such as Haleakala, 

 West Maui, Kau forests, Kohala Mountains, etc., which all come under Tetra- 

 plasandra meiandra; while Hillebrand's varieties came mostly from Oahu. They 

 are, however, not quite so rare as Hillebrand thought them to be; the forests 

 have merely been opened up nowadays by ditch trails, while in Hillebrand's 

 time the rain forests were almost inaccessible. 



Varieties of the above species occur both in extremely wet forests and in ex- 

 ceedingly dry or mixed forests. It is in the latter regions that they reach their 

 best development. They are there associated with Pterotropia, Aleetryon, Pelea, . 

 Xanthoxylum, Hibiscadelphus, etc. 



Variety ;,. which is here illustrated, grows in the forests of Kau above Naa- 

 lehu on Hawaii. Hillebrand's plant came from the woods of Hilo, where it was. 

 collected by Mr. J. Lydgate. In Kau it is a medium-sized tree, 35 feet in height, 

 with a rather short trunk and large, stout, ascending branches; the leaves are 

 over a foot long and consist of 7 to 13 leaflets ; the inflorescence is a compound 

 umbel with usually five rays, each ray bearing an umbel of 5 to 16 peduncles, 

 each peduncle having again from 5 to 12 pedicels half an inch long, petals 7, 

 stamens as many ; the ovarian portion is ovoid, and has a conical vertex with four 

 stigmas raised on a minute stylopod. 



As far as known the natives made no use of this tree. Its wood is white and 

 soft and of no value, as is the case with all the rest of the species belonging to 

 this genus and those closely allied to it. 



Varieties of this species grow also above Awini in the rain forests of Kohala, 

 Hawaii; in the mountains of West Maui, on the ridges of Honokawai; on the 

 summit ridge of Lanai, Haalelepakai ; in the Punaluu Mountains, and Kona- 

 huanui on Oahu, as well as in Niu and Wailupe Valley of the same island. On 

 Molokai, it grows in the forests of Kamoku; in the swamp forest on the wind- 

 ward side of Haleakala a new variety is not uncommon. The species and its 

 forms grow at altitudes of from 1000 to 4000 feet, and are either small shrubs 

 or medium-sized trees in the wet forests, and larger trees in the dry regions (on 

 lava fields). 



349 



