60 



THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



maintains the swamp is at the same time shcing away its 

 margins. In a comparatively short geological period the 

 summit bog of Ka-ala will vanish entirely, as has that of the 

 degraded Ko'o-lau Range along windward Oahu. 



Molokai is a long, narrow island, forty by ten miles in 

 extent, with the long axis due east and west. Like Oahu 

 and Maui it is a volcanic doublet, the two cones having 

 appeared at widely separated periods of volcanic activity. The 

 western cone is dry and barren, rising only tO' a height of 1382 

 feet, and is largely covered with introduced ranch grasses. 

 There is no forest and no swamp land. 



The larger eastern dome presents a striking series of 

 contrasts with its western associates. It rises to a height of 

 nearly 5000 feet. The long windw^ard face is marked by 

 stupendous precipices and deep valleys. The scenery is of 

 heroic proportions. The summit has been eaten away by the 

 great ampitheaters of erosion, like Ka-ala, so that in the heart 

 of the mountains occur precipices literally thousands of feet 

 in height. The crown is covered by dense jungle forest. The 

 high flatlands at the head of Halawa Valley are cloud-capped 

 and boggy. These Halawa bogs correspond topographically 

 and biologically to the summit bogs on Wai-aleale and on 

 West Maui. They cover an area of several square miles. The 

 bogs are bounded on all sides by enormous precipices; the 

 eastern cliffs are marked by the beautiful waterfalls of Moa-ula 

 and Hi-pua-pua. 



The Molokai bogs exhibit many features common to those 

 of Kauai and Maui. The lava soil is hidden under deep 

 layers of water-saturated mosses and decaying vegetation. The 

 anborescent growth is sparse and stunted, and bears all of 

 the ecological earmarks of its cold, foggy, humid habitat. 

 There is a large number of precinctive species and varieties. 

 Like Wai-aleale, many parts of the bog are practically in- 

 accessible. The introduced goats and deer that have ravaged 



