Botanical Novelties- — S t, John 
165 
subacute, thick and coriaceous, within longi- 
tudinally furrowed by the impress of the 
anther sacs, caducous; staminal ring exserted 
1-1.5 mm. beyond the calyx and wide flaring; 
filaments diverging almost horizontally, the 
free part 1.5-2 mm. long; anthers 4.5 mm. 
long, divergent, narrowly oblong, obtuse and 
emarginate; ovary with the exposed tip coni- 
cal, furrowed and ridged below; stigma trigo- 
nous, truncate; fruit spherical, 18-20 mm. in 
diameter, black, hard; pericarp 2. 5-3. 5 mm. 
thick; mesocarp grumous and fibrous, pale, 
endocarp 0.5 mm. thick, brown; seed coat 
smooth, dark brown; endosperm white, bony; 
fruiting perianth subcylindric, 3.5-4 mm. 
long, 4-5 mm. wide, laterally compressed. 
HOLOTYPUS: Niihau, Mokouia Valley, south 
ridge of, knoll, protected by basalt boulders, 
875 ft. alt., August 45, 1947, H, Sl John 
22,813 (BISH). 
This new species of palm was the most in- 
teresting find made during the visit to Niihau, 
and is a vivid reminder of the various other 
indigenous plants that doubtless formed a 
scrub or forest growth on the uplands, before 
their destruction by grazing animals. First a 
single palm tree was seen, at the head of the 
entrenched lower part of Haao Valley at 250 
feet altitude. It was rooted in a rugged rocky 
talus just below the cliffs forming the cirque- 
like head wall. The trunk was about 15 meters 
tall and 30 centimeters in diameter, and it 
projected high above the cliff walls. The 
crown was unhealthy, and there were no in- 
florescences, probably due to a large hole 
bored into the trunk near the apex, probably 
by some animal The next specimens were 
seen on the south divide of Mokouia Valley 
at 875 feet altitude, on the top of a prominent 
summit. Here in a forbidding jumble of great 
basalt boulders was one tree, healthy, and in 
flower and fruit, and it furnished the type 
specimens. At its foot were several seedlings 
with good leaves, but scarcely any trunk de- 
veloped as yet. The crown of the large tree 
was dense and it bore many inflorescences in 
flower and fruit. The writer shinnied up the 
trunk, 7 meters tall, grasped a lower leaf and 
hung' there to rest, but then was too tired to 
scramble into the crown. He cut off a leaf, 
inflorescences with flowers and ones with 
fruits, then slid exhausted down the trunk. 
More specimens could have been obtained by 
felling the tree, but to do that to a rare sur- 
vival near extinction would have been van- 
dalism. A third grove was shown to the col- 
lector on the lower north slope of Kapaka 
Valley which is the next major valley north- 
east of Mokouia Valley, and debouching on 
the plain about one eighth mile east of Puu 
Alala. Here, rising out of a tangle of Prosopis 
chilensis trees, was a small clump of the 
Pritchardia, several smaller ones and two ma- 
ture trees reaching about 7 and 10 meters in 
height. The native guide who knew the island 
thoroughly did not know of any other exist- 
ing trees. These few survivors were in locali- 
ties where the rugged and steep rocky slopes 
gave them some protection from the grazing 
sheep and cattle. Even so, the species is on 
the point of extinction. 
The new species is named in compliment 
to Aylmer F. Robinson, in recognition of his 
keen interest in and wide knowledge of the 
natural productions of Niihau. His sugges- 
tions made the time in the field much more 
productive, and he has kindly reviewed both 
the botany and the Hawaiian names in this 
report. It is a pleasure to name this Niihau 
tree for Mr. Robinson. 
The report by David Samuel who visited 
Niihau on January 29, 1778, with Captain 
Cook, that he saw ”two or three palm trees, ’’ 
might have referred to the new species of 
Pritchardia, or to Cocos nucifera. From the 
vague nature of his statement, it is not now 
certain what palm he saw. His words are 
quoted by Handy (1940: 153). 
Fig. 3. Pritchardia Aylmer •Rohinsonii, from the holotype: a, leaf X Va\ h, fructescence X Va\ c, flower X 2; <7 
and e, petals X 2; /, fruit X 1; fruit in longitudinal section X 1. 
