Hawaiian Species of Scaevola — St. John 
growing on sand dunes, Dec. 22, 1932, H. St. 
John et al. 12,450. 
One of the commonest littoral plants is 
this widespread variety, known from many 
parts of the tropical Pacific. It occurs near the 
beach or the sea shores on all types of soil. 
It has not been reported far from the beach or 
at high elevation, hence, this locality at 600 
feet altitude and 114 miles from the shore is 
worthy of record. At the shore there are ex- 
tensive and large dunes of coral sand and 
shell sand at Moomomi, Molokai. South- 
west by west from here is a broad strip up the 
foothills where the strong northeast trade 
winds blow the dunes before them right up 
the hillsides. These inland dunes climb to the 
crest of the ridge at 600 feet and partway 
down the declivity on the other side. They 
have, at least in part, the same vegetation as 
those of the coast, Boerhavia diffusa, Scaevola, 
Ipomoea pes-caprae, etc. They are doubtless 
saline enough in this arid area, and the plant 
seeds have been blown inland along with the 
sand. Though these inland localities are of 
striking interest, they are easily explained. 
The writer has also observed this variety on 
Oahu at 500 feet altitude. This was near the 
crest of the Koolau Range, east of the King’s 
Highway Pass, east of Makapuu Head Light- 
house, above the first beach in Waimanalo. 
Here the Scaevola is to be seen in gulches, 
nearly to the top of the divide. This is on 
the windward side of the island and is fully 
exposed. Here storm winds obviously are re- 
sponsible for lifting salt spray, sand, and seeds 
of beach plants up the gullies on the face of 
the precipitous cliffs. The distance inland, 
however, is only a small fraction of a mile. 
Degener has also observed and collected 
this shrub of the inland dunes and has recently 
described it as S. frutescens forma moomomiana 
Degener and Greenwell. Its only distinguish- 
ing characters were stated to be: "This 
brittle-leaved form has densely velvety 
leaves.” The type specimen, Degener 7,730, is 
in the herbarium of the New York Botanical 
Garden. The writer studied the type in June, 
33 
1950, and found it a full sheet. The leaves are 
densely ascending white pilosulous above and 
below, a little more hairy and velvety than 
usual in the variety, but the hairs are of exactly 
the kind found on the leaves of var. sericea. 
The type has blades 3.5-10.0 cm. long, 
spatulate, and, when dried, thick and rigid, 
showing no evidence of having been brittle. 
The writer was unable to perceive brittleness 
as a usable character for this forma in the 
herbarium or in the type locality where he has 
observed this plant several times. There were 
also present three other collections from near 
the type locality, Degener 7,728, 7,729, and 
7,731; in these, differences in the length and 
density of the pubescence were observed, but 
they and 7,730 did not seem separable on the 
pubescence alone. All are better referred to 
S. frutescens var. sericea. 
Scaevola mollis Hooker & Arnott, forma 
albifiora (Degener & Greenwell) comb. nov. 
S. mollis var. albifiora Degener & Greenwell, 
in Degener, FI. Haw., fam. 340: 10/1/47. 
Corolla white except for the violet margin 
of the sinus of the split tube. 
type: Oahu, "Shrubby, cloudy east slope 
near top; between Puu Kanehoa and Puu 
Kaua, Waianae Range, June 23, 1940, 
Degener No. 17,643.'' 
SPECIMENS EXAMINED: Puu Hapapa, Waia- 
nae Mts., southeast slope, among bushes near 
top, June 4, 1939, Otto Degener & Emilio 
Ordonez 12,364; Puu Kaaumakua, Koolau 
Range, Waipio, low forest near peak, 2,400 
ft. alt., 1 m. shrub, Aug. 23, 1942, Harold St. 
John and June Suzuki 20,312. 
The species, Scaevola mollis, is abundant in 
the Koolau Range, Oahu, occurring from the 
moist forest of the Ohia Zone up to the 
crest of the mountains in the Cloud Zone. It 
is readily distinguished from the other species 
on Oahu by having its leaves soft hairy be- 
neath and by having its flowers blue, or more 
