Botanical Novelties on the Island of Niihau, Hawaiian Islands 
Hawaiian Plant Studies 25 ^ 
Harold St. John^ 
In 1947 and again in 1949 the writer was so 
fortunate as to be able to make botanical 
explorations on the island of Niihau, a re- 
mote, high island of the principal group of 
Hawaiian Islands. A lengthy account of its 
flora is in preparation. It seems desirable now 
to put on record the new botanical discoveries 
made on that island or in connection with the 
investigation of its flora. 
The holotypes of the new species are in the 
Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu, 
(BISH), unless otherwise specified. 
GRAMINEAE 
Panicum Heupueo sp. nov. (subgenus 
Panicum) 
Fig. 1 
NOM. VERN.: "heu pueo” ( = fine hairs on 
the owl); also called, "hakonakona,” perhaps 
in error, as that is the established name of 
P. torridum Gaud. 
DIAGNOSIS HOLOTYPi: Breviter annuum 
erectum 16-34 cm. altum plerumque e basi 
^ This is the twenty-fifth of a series of papers de- 
signed to present descriptions, revisions, and records 
of Hawaiian plants. The preceding papers have been 
published in B. P. Bishop Mus., Occ. Papers 10(4), 
1933; 10(12), 1934; 11(14), 1935; 12(8), 1936; 14(8), 
1938; 15(1), 1939; 15(2), 1939; 15(22), 1940; 15(28), 
1940; 17(12), 1943; Calif. Acad. Sci., Proc. IV, 25(16), 
1946; Torrey Bot. Club, Bui. 72: 22-30, 1945; Lloydia 
7: 265-274, 1944; Pacific Sci. 1(1): 5-20, 1947; Brit- 
tonia 6(4): 431-499, 1949; Gray Herb., Contrib. 165: 
39-42, 1947; Pacific Sci. 3(4): 296-301, 1949; 4(4): 
339-345, 1950; B. P. Bishop Mus., Occ. Papers 20(6), 
1950; Pacific Sci. 6(1): 30-34, 1952; 6(3): 213-255, 
1952; 8(2): 140-146, 1954; Polynesian Soc., Jour. 
63(1): 27-34, 1954; B. P. Bishop Mus., Occ. Papers 
21(15), 1955; Brussels Jard. Bot. de I'Etat Bui. 27(1): 
49-54, fig. 2, 1957. 
2 Department of Botany, University of Hawaii. 
Manuscript received January 18, 1958. 
unicauliferum sed supra basem culmis bi- 
furcatis cum ramis subaequalibus, internodis 
superioribus villosis inferioribus glabris, in- 
ternodis plantarum parvarum quam vaginam 
brevioribus sed plantarum magnarum ad bis 
longioribus quam vaginam, vaginis 15-29 
mm. longis valde nervosis pustulato-albi- 
ciliatis, pilis 0. 2-0.4 mm. longis, laminis 4-10 
cm. longis 2-4 mm. latis planis linearibus 
acutis albo-villosis in ambis lateris, paniculis 
2-8 cm. longis 5-30 mm. latis densis in cul- 
mis omnibus terminalibus in basi vaginatis, 
ramulis adscendentibus valde adpressis sed 
post florendis ramulis superioribus paene di- 
vergentibus, rhachide ad basim sparse piloso 
sed ad apicem scabro, ramulis scabris, spiculis 
1.2-1. 5 mm. longis elliptico-ovoideis acutis 
glabris pallidis scariosis viridi-nervosis, gluma 
prima 1.9 mm. longa 1.2 mm. lata 3-nervata 
lanceo-ovata, gluma secunda 1.7 mm. longa 
1.4 mm. lata late elliptica acuta 7-nervata, 
lemma sterilis 1.8 mm. longa 1.1 mm. lata 
late elliptica acuta, palea sterilis 1.1 mm. 
longa 0.5 mm. lata elliptica membranacea in 
basi involuta, lemma fertilis 0.9-1 mm. longa 
0.6 mm. lata ovata cartilaginea lucida alba 
deinde brunneo-plumbaginea indistincte 5- 
nervata concava marginibus involutis, palea 
subconcava clausa 3-nervata, antheris 0.4 mm. 
longis oblongis, stigma dendritica. 
DESCRIPTION OF ALL SPECIMENS: Short-lived 
annual, erect, 10-53 cm. tall, mostly 1- 
stemmed from the base, but above it the 
culms repeatedly bifurcate, with subequal 
branches; internodes villous on upper part, 
glabrous on lower; on small plants the inter- 
nodes shorter than the sheaths but on larger 
ones the internodes as long as twice the 
length of the sheaths; leaf sheaths 15-48 mm. 
long, strongly nerved, pustulate white villous; 
156 
