THE GENUS PLANTAGO IN HAWAII 
Plantago pachyphylla is mainly a bog plant, though the typical form, var. 
a mauiensis, grows in the drier regions in the uplands of Haleakala, Maui, 
along dry stream beds in company with Geranium tridens, Argyroxiphium 
sandwicense, A. virescens, Raillardia platyphylla, Styphelia Grayana, etc. 
The only other variety, if not a distinct species (var. hawaiiensis) , grows 
in the dry cinder on the upper slopes of Mt. Hualalai at 6,000 to 7,000 feet 
elevation, and also on Mauna Loa, on the island of Hawaii. All the remain- 
ing varieties are bog plants or occur immediately below the bogs in moss 
forests, especially in open places on the ridges. In the bogs they are asso- 
ciated with Viola, Acaena exigua, Geranium humile, and certain Compositae, 
as Dubautia and Wilkesia, and on Kauai also with Drosera. Other plants 
found in its company are Car ex montis eeka, Eragrostis variabilis (on Maui), 
Scaevola (also on Maui), and Lobelia, as well as Trematolobelia and, on 
Maui, Argyroxiphium. 
Plantago pachyphylla is said to be closely related to Plantago aucklandica 
from the Auckland Islands, while PI. princeps is closely related to PL 
fernandezia of Juan Fernandez. The writer has not seen specimens of these 
two species and is not able to say whether these contentions are correct. 
The two Hawaiian species occur on all the islands of the group with the 
exception of Lanai, Niihau, and Kahoolawe; this does not mean, however, 
that they never occurred there. In all probability PL pachyphylla was 
absent from the two latter islands owing to their dryness and low altitude 
while it may have occurred on Lanai and there is a possibility that specimens 
may yet be found there, although that is doubtful, the island being much 
drier now than it ever was previously. 
In working up these difficult and perplexing forms of PL princeps and 
PL pachyphylla the writer had at his disposal the collection in the Gray 
Herbarium and duplicates of Hillebrand's collection which were given him 
by the authorities of the Berlin Herbarium. 
The writer is indebted to Mr. E. H. Bryan, Jr., a student of the College 
of Hawaii, for securing references and original descriptions from books not 
in the College of Hawaii library and for copying the manuscript. He is 
indebted to Dr. B. L. Robinson of the Gray Herbarium for the loan of the 
Hawaiian Plantago material in the Gray Herbarium, and he takes this 
opportunity to express his sincere thanks. 
Key to the Hawaiian Species and Varieties of Plantago 
A, Lateral veins converging with the median nerve; pyxidium cir- 
cumscissile at the base (excepting PI. princeps var. anomala). Plantago princeps. 
B, Stems woody, branching or simple and erect. 
C. Stems simple and erect, not branching. 
D. Stems hairy or woolly their whole length, leaves 
broadly stem-clasping. var. Queleniana. 
D'. Stems decidedly glabrous, leaves contracted at the 
base but broader at the insertion. var. elata. 
Stems branching. 
