174 
height of 30 feet and a trunk 1 foot in diameter. 
A small-leaved form grows on tops of ridges; 
this seldom attains 15 feet in height and a 
trunk Vz foot in diameter. There is also a form 
occupying a middle position in regard to char- 
acter and habitat; this grows on the sides of 
ravines. Horne suggests that characters vary 
according to habitat. 
33. Alstonia costata ( Forst. f. ) R. Br., in Mem. 
Wern. Soc. 1: 77. 1811. Non ex Wall. 
Num. List 1649. 1829; nec Wall, ex 
Miquel, FI. Ind. Bat. 2: 439. 1856. ~A. 
macrophylla. 
Echites costata Forst. f., Prod. 20. 1786; non 
cit. ” Kametti-valli” Rheede. 
Alstonia fragrans J. W. Moore, in Bernice P. 
Bishop Mus., Bui., Honolulu, 102: 39. 
1933. 
PA. elliptica J. W. Moore, in Bernice P. 
Bishop Mus., Bui., Honolulu, 102: 39. 
1933. 
Petioles 2.5 cm. long; leaf blades very vari- 
able in shape and size, broadly elliptic to nar- 
rowly lanceolate, 9-21 cm. long, 1.5-10 cm. 
broad, usually sharply and abruptly long-acumi- 
nate at apex, glabrous, shining above, the lateral 
nerves 10-17 pairs, 8-20 mm. apart. Inflor- 
escence mostly many-flowered; calyx 1.2-2 mm. 
diam. below lobes; calyx lobes ovate-lanceolate, 
2-2.9 mm. long; corolla tube 3.4— 4.1 mm. long; 
corolla lobes linear-lanceolate, 7-10 mm. long, 
usually pilose at base within only. Follicles 
6-20 cm. long; seeds 4.5-7 mm. long, the tails 
short, 1-3 mm. long, their forks close to body 
of seed. 
Type. — ff Echites costata Forst. Prod., n. 123. 
Hab. in insulis Otaheite et Ulaietea, inter juga 
montium (insularibus Attane nuncupata). 
Josephus Banks Baronettus. (v.s. in Herb. 
Banks).” 
Type of Echites costata. — Number 123 of 
Forst. Prod., p. 20. "Insulae Societatis.” Forster’s 
citation of Kametti-valli Rheede. ( Hort. 
Malab. 9: 23, t. 14) for his plant is erroneous, 
as pointed out by Robert Brown. Van Draaken- 
stein refers Kametti-valli to Aganosma. An 
PACIFIC SCIENCE, Vol. Ill, April, 1949 
r 
amplified description of Forster’s plant under 
Alstonia costata appears in Guillemin (1837: 
246), in which credit is given to "Forst. mss.” 
Illustrations. — Drake, 111. FI. Ins. Pacif. 
(1886) t. 10 (leafy br., infl., fr., fl. analysis, 
seed ) . 
Distribution. — The easternmost range of 
the genus; in the Pacific, from Cook Islands 
to the Marquesas. Reported from mountain- 
side and forest in cloud zone; on decomposed 
lava and heavy clay loam; altitude 200-2,000 m. 
Cook Islands. — Rarotonga: Wilder 544 
(Bish), 729 (Bish, NY). 
Society Islands. — Tahiti: Forster (type coll.?; 
fl.; K); Lepine 199 (G); MacDaniels 1542 and 
1666 (Bish); McComish (Bri); Moerenhout 
(G); Nadeaud 371 (G); Quayle 57 and 247 
(Bish); Whitney Exped. 588 (Bish); Wilkes 
(GH); Setchell and Parks 485 (GH), 525 
(UC). Raiatea: Moore 84 (type A. fragrans ; 
fl. and fr.; Min), 395 (Bish), 746 (type A. 
elliptica; fl. and fr.; Min; det.?). Eimeo 
(Moorea): Wilkes (US). 
Marquesas. — Hiva Oa: Adamson and Mum- 
ford 140 (Bish), 498; F.B.H. Brown 879 
(Bish); Quayle 1338 (Bish). Uahuka: Quayle 
1753 and 1836 (Bish). 
Vernacular names. — Tahiti: Afairetou, 
Atae, Latai, Napau, Utureva. 
Type of A. fragrans. — J. W. Moore "Field 
number 84, Sept. 16, 1926, alt. 350 m.; south 
facing slope of mountain, east path to Mount 
Temehani.” 
Type of A. elliptica. — J. W. Moore "Field 
number 746, Apr. 16, 1927, alt. 600 m.; in red 
clay soil, Red Temehani.” 
A. fragrans is placed satisfactorily under 
synonymy of A. costata. The leaf character of A. 
elliptica aproaches that of A. montana, but the 
species probably is merely an atypical form of 
A. costata. Brown 879, from the Marquesas, 
has been designated by Grant (in herb.) as 
type of a new species; this plant, together with 
the other Marquesan representatives, is not 
completely congruous with typical A. costata, 
as already noted by F. B. H. Brown. The flowers 
