Kept., Nat. Park Serv,, Bish. Mus. 23-24, 45. 1959. 
Prostrate to partially erect fleshy perennial, greenish or pur p] 
with terete or slightly flattened subulate leaves about 8-10 x 2 n 
w’ith pale hairs 5-10 mm, long clustered in the axils: flowers 
distal ends of branches, opening in the morning, closing shortly" a 
noon or earlier, with sepals 3 x 2-3 mm., petals deep pinkish-pu 
or rose fPhlox DUrnle in Rinr.®*v 1QT9\ _ 
-jrl.'n 
EPslfLJi 
r ' 4 dpi# v 
in Kidgway; 1912), obovate with minutely 
* . - carinate, the apex rarely cordate, 5-6 X 5-4 mm.; 
m - stamens 6-17; anthers yellow; stigmas 2-5, about 1.5 mm. long, dark 
red; capsule broadly ellipsoid-sub rotund, circumscissile at or below 
the middle at the region of greatest diameter, persistent; seeds 
attune - obliquely reniform-orbicular, shining dark metallic blue, 
nun* long, ornamented with several concentric rows of 
roundish depressions particularly pronounced about the rim of the 
seed. 
o Distribution : Lehua Islet (off Kauai); Mana, Kauai; alluvial 
flats north of Mauna Kuwale, Waianae, Oahu; Puna coast near 
Wahaula, Hawaii., 
ft The original description of the species was biased on specimens 
from rLehua and Kaula (reported by Cacm as P. villosd ), and the 
species was thought to be endemic in those places. The species was 
An Halm kxr Tl/T™ Tttt TT^m A wr„,___ i r i , 
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. 
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-i. ■ . v" • .. -- 
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on Oahu by Mrs. Juliet O. Wentworth, and reported by 
St. JOHN in 1945. The range was recently extended to Hawaii when 
writer discovered nlanfs on the Puna coast in the vici- 
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, „ ; - ; W**, 
i&PM* 
>.".vX£S* 
nity of Wahaula, and at Kamoamoa and Kahue. Collections were 
i1 k*, : g 
s of the Wahaula plants were brought to Honolulu in 
1959 and grown in a garden on Round Top Drive at 
s 1200 feet elevation in a most area, in rich topsoil mixed 
coarse lava gravel. Within a month, these original cuttings 
had tasen^ root and sent out new branches. After three months, the 
to a considerable size, covering nearly a square 
a mat two to three inches thick. In the mean- 
nowerrog had been perpetual, and the numerous seeds, already 
matured, had germinated nearby. The rapid growth and attractive 
foliage, with their abundant small pinkish flowers, make 
ies of considerable value in landscaping situations where a 
cover is needed. For purposes of comparison, a packet of 
commercial seed of Portulaca grandiflora Hook, was obtained, the 
seeds planted at about the same time that the natural seeding of 
P. cyanosperma was occurring, and in the same area. Of the several 
hllllnrArl onn/ln a J >vi aI ,.? l • T • i . 1 - 1 
a dozen 
