New Hedy otis — Stone and Lane 
145 
dehiscing first loculicidally across the disc, 
the pyrenes later separating by a septicidal 
slit. Seeds angular, blackish, papillose to gra- 
nulate, small, ca. 0.2 mm. long. 
holotype: Hawaiian Islands, Kauai: Be- 
tween Kalalau and Honopu, cliffs at end of 
beach; plants growing on rocky ledges and 
in crevices dashed by ocean spray, 10-30 ft. 
elevation, in association with Artemisia aus- 
tralis and Lipochaeta succulenta , December 24, 
1956, Benjamin C. Stone no. 1470 (2 sheets, 
in Bishop Museum) . (This locality is actually 
the same as the following.) 
specimens examined: Hawaiian Islands, 
Kauai: Third gulch from east end of Honopu 
(Kalalau Trail), rare, in crevices of vertical 
basalt sea cliff, 10 ft. alt., herbaceous, leaves 
fleshy, above dark shiny green, below pale 
green with darker veins; infl. green, the buds 
cuboid, the calyx lobes valvate, within pale 
green, the corolla lobes valvate, within dark 
green, without pale green, assurgent; anthers 
exserted, yellow; December 31, 1947, Harold 
St. John, E. J. Britten, and R. S. Cowan no. 
23,207 (2 sheets, in Bishop Museum). 
DISCUSSION 
Because of the close vegetative similarity of 
the species Hedyotis littoralis (Hillebrand) Fos- 
berg and the newly described H. St.-Johnii 
Stone and Lane, there is the possibility that 
Hillebrand’s collection from Hanalei, Kauai, 
might represent H. St.- Johnii rather than H. 
littoralis . Hillebrand (1888) added after the 
description of his H. littoralis , "On rocks near 
the seashore in Waikolu, Molokai! and Hana- 
lei, Kauai! A single damaged corolla only was 
available for examination; the position of the 
anthers, shape of corolla lobes, and relative 
length of style remain therefore doubtful.” 
Possibly also the color of the corolla in the 
Hanalei specimen was unknown. At any rate, 
until new and definite collections of H. lit- 
toralis are made on Kauai, it must remain a 
matter of doubt whether both of these species 
are actually present there. Since, however, the 
only two collections of H. St.- Johnii are from 
nearly the same locality along the Napali 
coast (Honopu and Kalalau are only about 
3 miles apart, as the crow flies), and Hille- 
brand’s specimen was from Hanalei, perhaps 
15 miles away and in a less rugged and rocky 
area, the possibility still exists that this latter 
specimen represents H. littoralis. 
Hedyotis St.- Johnii was first collected in 1947, 
by St. John, Britten, and Cowan, and was 
rediscovered in 1956, during a trip into the 
isolated and remote Kalalau Valley led by 
Harold St. John. About 10 plants were seen, 
at various heights from 10 to 30 feet up, on 
the vertical basalt faces of the cliffs at the 
west end of the beach between Kalalau Valley 
and Honopu Valley. Flowers and fruit seemed 
abundant, and the colony though small 
seemed healthy. The plants were continuously 
sprayed by a fine spume from the breaking 
waves. The only plant associates were Arte- 
misia australis Less, and Lipochaeta succulenta 
DC., though other species were growing 
nearby at the base of the cliffs back of the 
beach. 
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
The authors would like to express their 
appreciation to Harold St. John, Senior Pro- 
fessor of Botany at the University of Hawaii, 
in whose honor this new species is named, 
for his generous assistance in the preparation 
of this paper, and for the opportunity and 
inspiration to study the Hawaiian flora; and 
to Mrs. Nancy Higgins, without whose in- 
genuity the second collection might never 
have been made. 
REFERENCES 
Fosberg, F. Raymond. 1943. The Polynesian 
species of Hedyotis (Rubiaceae). Bernice P. 
Bishop Mus., Bui 174: 1-101. 
Hillebrand, William. 1888. Flora of the Ha- 
waiian Islands. Heidelberg. I— XCIV + 1- 
673 pp. Cf. p. 167. 
