APPENDIX 559 



perhaps for years. They were such as occur in abundance on the beaches 

 of the South Pacific, and, in fact, on all the shores of the Pacific Ocean, 

 both temperate and tropical. Although I carefully searched the stranded 

 drift of many beaches in this group, no other specimens of drift pumice 

 were found. 



On different parts of Oahu the beach-drift was always made up of 

 materials derived from the vegetation of the coast adjacent. Of most 

 frequent occurrence were the seeds of Ipomea pes caprag and Vigna lutea, 

 and the fruits of Scaevola Kcenigii, Vitex trifolia, and Pandanus odoratis- 

 simus. In addition, the empty seeds of Aleurites moluccana were numerous, 

 and there were occasional seeds of Thespesia populnea, Colubrina asiatica, 

 and Mucuna gigantea. On one beach there were a number of fruits of 

 Terminalia Katappa, showing but little signs of ocean travel, and evidently 

 derived from trees in the vicinity. This tree was introduced by Euro- 

 peans ; but it is not unlikely that in a generation or two it will become, 

 without man's aid, one of the characteristic beach trees of Oahu. It may 

 be remarked that the pods of Acacia Farnesiana, a shrub now growing 

 abundantly in Oahu near the sea, are washed up in great quantities on the 

 beaches of the west coast of this island, and the seeds are to be seen 

 germinating in numbers on the beach, the seedlings striking into the sand. 

 The pods float unharmed in sea-water for four or five weeks, but the 

 seeds, when freed, sink. 



Although the above evidence gives no indication of tropical drift of 

 non-Hawaiian origin on the beaches, it is probable, for reasons adduced in 

 Chapter VIII., that, in the winter, drift may be brought from tropical 

 America. 



NOTE 31 (page 59) 

 The Inland Extension of the Shore-plants of Hawaii 



Ccesal^inia Bonducella. — According to Hillebrand, this plant, so cha- 

 racteristic of the littoral floras of tropical regions, grows "in gulches of the 

 lower plains on all the islands," no reference being made to its occurrence 

 on the beaches. It is very rarely to be seen on the beaches of the large 

 island of Hawaii ; but it is to be found on the lava-bound coasts, and from 

 there it extends inland usually on old lava-flows for five or six miles, and 

 reaches sometimes considerable elevations. In one locaUty I found it at 

 2,000 feet above the sea (see page 188). 



Cassytha filiformis.— Though, a typical shore-plant in Fiji and other 

 tropical localities, it is rarely so in these islands. Hillebrand says nothing 

 of its station. It grows well in the lower open wooded regions, and is 

 frequently found amongst the blocks of old lava-flows near the coast. 



Cuscuta satidivichiana. — Unlike its fellow parasite Cassytha filiformis, 

 this species of Cuscuta, which is confined to this group, never came under 



