310 FLORA VITIENSIS. 
vernac, Hawaiense, teste Barclay, “ Aka-ava”), collected in Oahu (Seemann! Macrae! Hillebrand !) and 
Atoi (Barclay !), where it 1s used by the natives for tying the rafters of their houses ; and 3, P. Menziesii, 
Seem, |, ¢. t. 81, caule teretiusculo petiolisque dense aculeato ; foliis ovato-oblongis, acuminatis, 7-nerviis, 
supra inermibus, subtus ad costas aculeatis ; umbellis ¢ racemosis, rachidibus inermibus bracteatis, bracteis 
ovatis acuminatis, pedunculis compressis ebracteatis, receptaculis globosis, perig. foliolis 6 oblongo-linearibus ; 
umbellis ¢ solitariis, pedunculis aculeatis—Sandwich [slands (Menzies! in Herb. Mus. Brit). A very 
singular species. The branches, petioles, peduncles of female flowers, and the ribs of the lower side of the 
leaves are covered with spines, much more minute and dense than they are in many species of Smilaw. 
1, P. Vitiensis, (sp. nov.) Seem. |. c. (Tab. XCIII.) ; inermis, glabra; caule terete; foliis sub- 
cordatis v. ovato-oblongis, acuminatis, 3-5-nerviis, coriaceis ; pedunculis ¢ 2-3-fidis, perigonii 
foliolis 6 ovato-oblongis acuminatis l-nerviis, antheris ovatis; pedunculis ¢ solitariis; baceis 
globosis (nigris) 3-spermis.—Nomina vernae. Vitiense, “ Kadragi,” “ Wa rusi,” et * Na kau wa.”— 
Islands of Ovalan, Vanua Levu, Viti Levu, and Kadavu (Seemann! n. 631, ex parte), 
This is closely allied to P. Sandwichensis, but the leaves are somewhat differently shaped and have 
fewer ribs, and the anthers are different in shape and size. The leaves of the lower part of the stem are 
very large (Fig. 1), often measuring a foot in length and nine inches across, The male umbels are arranged 
on short forked peduneles, and the middle umbel is always the largest and longer than the petiole ; whilst the 
female umbels are on simple peduncles, which are shorter than the petiole, emale flower is unknown. 
The berry is round and black, and contains three seeds, The creeper is found throughout the group, espe- 
cially on land that has at one time been cleared, and might be gathered in quantities if there were any 
demand for it. In the London market it would be unsaleable at present. It belongs to that section of 
Sarsaparillas distinguished by pharmacologists as the “non-mealy,” the most valued representative of which 
is the Jamaica sort, Moreover, it has no “ beard,” or little rootlets. The natives of Ovalau, Viti Levu, 
and Vanua Levu, name it “ Kadragi” and “ Wa rusi;” those of Kadavu, “ Na kau wa,” literally, “the 
woody creeper.” It is said to be common also in the Samoan and Tongan groups, and prepared Sarsaparilla 
occasionally imported to the two last mentioned has found no market, the indigenous being preferred to 
the foreign. Curious to add, in Fiji it is not, as with us, the rhizome that is used, but the leaves, 
which are chewed, put in water, and strained through fibre, like the root of the Yaqona or Kawa (Piper me- 
thysticum, Forst.), before being taken. 7 
EXPLANATION OF Prate XCIIL., representing Pleiosmilaa Vitiensis, Seem.—Fig. 1, one of the leaves 
of the lower portion of a plant; 2, a branch with male flowers; 3, a male flower; 4, a portion of branch 
with ripe fruit :—all, except Fig. 8, natural size. 
Orxvo CI, LILIACEA, 
Besides the genera enumerated below, there is in tropical Polynesia the genus Dracena, of which one 
species (D. awrea, Hor. Mann) is found in the Hawaiian Islands. Alliwm -Ascalonicum, Linn., is culti- 
vated in Viti, and succeeds well, the uatives terming it ‘‘ Varasa.” 
I. Cordyline, Comm. ; R. Brown, Prodr, p, 280; Endl. Gen. n. 1166, Perigonium corollinam, 
campanulatum, limbo 6-fido, patente. Stamina 6, perigonii fauci inserta; filamenta subulata, au- 
therse versatiles, basi 2-fide. Ovarium 3-loculare. Ovula oo, anatropa. Stylus filiformis ; stigmia 
3-lobum, Bacca globosa, 3-locularis. Semina in loculis o0, vy. abortu solitaria, umbilico strophio- 
lato. Embryo axilis, extremitate radiculari centripeta——Plante caudice frutescente, interdum elato, 
foliis in apice caudicis congestis, elongato-lanceolatis, nervoso-striatis, petiolatis v. sessilibus, panicula 
terminali e spicis v. racemis alternis multifloris, floribus bibracteolatis, bracteola altera interiore, ses- 
silibus v. pedicellatis, perigomio cum pedicello articulato.—J, Hooker in Gardu, Chron., 1860, p. 
792. Dracene sp., Linn,; Forst. Charlwoodia, Sweet, Fl. Austr. t. 18. 
Besides the three species of Cordyline found in Viti, we have in tropical Polynesia O. Bauyert, Hools. 
fil; (C. australis, Endl. Fl, Norf. n, 29; Dracena australis, Look, Bot. Mag. t. 283, non Forst. Prodr. ; D 
obtecta, Grah.), from Norfolk Island. The different species are known amougst the light-skinned Polyne- 


