83 



Not all of tbese 70 seaweeds eaten by the Hawaiians would be agree- 

 able to the palate of the average American. Probably not more than 

 8 or 10 out of the 70 would be eaten either by the American or the 

 European, and some of these 10 only occur in limited quantity and 

 only in a few localities. There may, of course, be a few seaweeds 

 here in Hawaii that will prove to be valuable for fertilizers, iodin, or 

 gelatin that have not yet been tested, as the Sargassums. 



Probably none of our Hawaiian seaweeds occur in such large quan- 

 tities as those in Japan, since our coast is much less extensive and 

 many of our islands have bold, precipitous coasts, with very deep 

 water coming up close to the shore on one or two sides. Algse grow 

 most abundantly in the shallower waters near the coast, and hence the 

 more coral reefs and the more extensive shallows the greater variety 

 and quantity of seaweed. It is, of course, more easily collected on 

 shallow rocky coasts or in coves and bays protected by wide coral 

 reefs, while it is always most plentiful on the coral rocks in these 

 shallows. The tougher, more leathery varieties thrive in the more 

 exposed places and find secure anchorage on the black lava rocks or 

 basalt, as well as on the softer vesiculate lava, which is usually cov- 

 ered with algse of various kinds, different from that growing on the 

 coral. 



While Hawaii is within the tropic zone and probably considerably 

 warmer than Japan, yet she has some of the same species of economic 

 algge that grow on her coasts. Hawaii produces eight or nine species 

 of Gelidium, while one is the same species ( Gelidvum corneum) which 

 is found so abundantly in Japan and is used in the manufacture of sea- 

 weed gelatin. Our species of Gelidium are undoubtedly as gelatinous 

 as the Japanese species, but they are not nearly so plentiful. We 

 also have Gracilaria confervoides and G. coronopifolia, which are very 

 common on the coasts of Japan. Gracilaria coronopifolia is particu- 

 larly rich in gelatin of the best quality suitable for food, and it also 

 occurs in considerable quantities on all the islands but Hawaii. Our 

 P. leucosticta is somewhat similar to the two Porphyras of Japan used 

 in making amanori, but is too rare and too difficult to collect to be of 

 any economic importance here on Hawaii. We also have two edible 

 species of Codiuni, while Japan has three edible species, but different 

 from ours. Our edible Grateloii/pia fiUchia is the same as the one 

 used in Japan, though they have two other edible species of Grate- 

 loupia. We have two of the three Japanese species of Enteromorpha, 

 besides three or four more edible species. There are two edible spe- 

 cies of Gymnogongrus reported from Japan, and we have the same 

 number here, though different species. Of our three edible Ulvas, 

 one is the same, one a variety, and the other is a nearly related species 

 to those found in Japan. We have three or four species of edible 



