12 
PACIFIC SCIENCE, VoL XV, January 1961 
ern Molokai, back of Kalaeokalaau in 1910, and 
collected there by him again in 1920. Cuttings 
were made and several plants were cultivated at 
the "Rockery” on the University of Hawaii 
campus. I have since tried to find traces of this 
variety again on Molokai but with little success. 
Henry Wiebke, principal of Holomua School, 
Hoolehua, told me that he collected it in the 
late 1920s but cannot find it now. Mrs. Cooke, 
Molokai resident, is anxious to preserve the 
variety also but has been unable to locate it. 
(She did have several plants growing along her 
driveway until a few years ago.) 
4. Hibiscus Brackenridgei var. kauaiana Caum 
Figs. 5, 7 
Hibiscus Brackenridgei Gray var. kauaiana 
Caum. New Hawaiian Plants, Bishop Mus. 
Occ. Pap. 9(5): 5-6, pi 4. 1930. 
description: Erect to spreading shrub to 1 
m. Leaves dentate, cordate, 8 cm. long, 8 cm. 
wide, shallowly 3 dobed, densely pubescent on 
both surfaces. Petioles 4-5 cm. long, pubescent. 
Stipules setaceous. Peduncles 1.5 cm. long; 5 
bracts, 3 cm. long, 8 mm. wide, halberd shaped, 
not terete, not glanduliferous, hirsute with short 
hair. Calyx 2.5 cm. long, triangular lobes each 
with an oblong gland at the base of a thick mid- 
FlG. 6. Hibiscus Brackenridgei var. molokaiana 
Rock. (Picture taken by Joseph F. Rock.) 
rib, hirsute with colorless hairs, glabrous on in- 
ner surface. Corolla 12 cm. in diameter, "lemon 
yellow” to "canary yellow,” dark "reddish-pur- 
ple” throat 3 cm. deep. Petals spreading, slightly 
reflexed at tips, 6 cm. long, 5 cm. wide, 14-16 
nerved. Ovary pubescent with colorless hairs. 
Staminal column 3 cm. long, irregularly an- 
ther if erous for entire length, glabrous; lower 
filaments 5 mm. long, upper ones shorter. Style 
branches 2 mm. long, hirsute. Stigmas capitate, 
depressed, deep "reddish-purple.” Capsule ovoid, 
acute at tip, 2.5 cm. high, 17 mm. maximum 
diameter. Seeds broad-reniform, 3 mm. long, 
hirsute with short gray hair. 
HOLOTYPE: E, L. Caum. From plants in cul- 
tivation at 1420 Piikoi Street. Honolulu. 
SPECIMENS EXAMINED: Kauai : Waiawa, 
April 1919, Rock 16038; also Rock 17141. "V. 
Knudsen’s home,” 1919, Rock. Waimea, near 
Hale Manu, altitude 3300 feet, July 28, 1957, 
Roe 233, 234, 231. 
Oahu : 1420 Piikoi Street, cuttings from orig- 
inal type plant, Caum. 1508 Alexander Street, 
cuttings from Hale Manu plant, Roe 307. 
H. Brackenridgei var. kauaiana is quite un- 
common. I located it at Hale Manu near Kokee, 
but there were only three plants of it at this 
location. In tracing its origin to the Waimea 
area I found cuttings had been brought up there 
from a wild plant at a lower elevation. The 
original plant has not been found. 
Several collectors, including Rock, have men- 
tioned two distinct varieties of H. Bracken- 
ridgei on Kauai, one more arborescent than var. 
kauaiana Caum. In 1957 I made cuttings of a 
plant not in flower on Kauai that I felt had 
different growth habits. This plant is in cul- 
tivation now, with one also thought to be of 
this arborescent Kauai variety, given to me in 
July, 1958, by Rock. They have not flowered, 
so at present taxonomic judgment cannot be 
passed on their distinctness. 
5. Hibiscus Brackenridgei var. mokuleiana 
nov. var. 
Figs. 5, 8 
DESCRIPTION: Arbor 10-12 m. alta basi 20- 
25 cm. diametro. Stipulis 1-2 cm. longis pilosis. 
Petiolo 6-9 cm. longo piloso, lamina 9-11 cm. 
