VEGETATION OF THE HAWAIIAN 

 SUMMIT BOGS 



By Vaughan MacCaughey. 



I ^HE general geography of the Hawaiian Islands is well- 

 ^ known to the educated reader. The mid-Pacific location 

 of this remote archipelago, its shining' coral strands, the mag- 

 nificent cloud-crowned mountains, the rivers of black lava, and 

 fiery lakes of incandescent rockstuff, — these features have 

 received wide publicity. The islands have been visited repeat- 

 edly by men of science and by exploring expeditions, and the 

 distinctive characters of Hawaii's natural history are generally 

 appreciated. 



Undoubtedly the least-visited and least-known regions in 

 Hawaii are the remarkable summit bogs. Altho of great 

 geologic and biologic interest, their almost inaccessible situa- 

 tions, and the hardships incident to visiting them, have effect- 

 ually deterred all but the hardiest of mountaineers. They are 

 reached only by scaling dizzy ridges and dripping cliffs, per- 

 petually swept by fog and rain, and often hidden for weeks 

 together by their thick cloud-mantles. These high bogs are of 

 particular interest tO' the naturalist, not only because of their 

 unique topography, but because of the rare plants that occur 

 in no other places. It has been the good fortune of the 

 author to have made pedestrian journeys over all the larger 

 islands of the Hawaiian group, and it is the purpose of the 

 present paper to describe somewhat in detail these high swamp- 

 lands, with their unique vegetation. 



