Asplenium lobulatum Mett.

PLANTS OF HAWAII
EX HERBARIUM OTTO DEGÉNER
Dear Mr. Degener,
P.O.Box 993
Hilo, Í.H.
Feb. 8, 1940
When I wrote to you last week I had no ideé* I would be in the wilds
so soon again, but on Seb. 3 Mr* and Mrs. Blacow took my eldest son and
me into the Forest Reserve above Pepeekeo(lands of Kawanui and Makahana)
to observe the akialoa and akiapolaau there. We heard the birds and had
a fine view of a pair of mana as well as of-many common ones. In fact
I have never seen native Hawaiian birds so numerous as there, not even in
Hawaii National Park. But far greater still is the variety and number
of native plants and trees in this place. If you have newer been there
it would certainly be well worth your while to study that region.
ji ' ' -V ? Vj	‘	"'V;	>
It is geologioally much older than much of the surface land of Mauna
Kea and the lava crumbles at touch like some of that in Kohala. The growth
is chiefly koa of large size, and the proportion of ohia to mixed species
is less than in Kilauea forests I have been in. Ilex, Xanthoxylum, and
the like are common. It have never seen tree ferns with larger girth nor
a greater variety of ferns growing wild in one place.
We were not equipped for collecting plants, but I brought back a few
which caught the periphery of our attention while looking for the birds.
As the latter became more numerous as we ascended, we looked les? at the
plants and I gathered none above 2100 ft. I enclose the best of my plant
specimens, tho others whfch we did not collect might be more desireable.
Plants such as the native bananas, both the red and green stemmed and the
fruit stem upright instead éf drooping; a tree resembling coffee but with
leaves shaped differently; a mulberry with red fruit; a pepperomia with
wide thin pointed leaves and no red on the under side; at least three kinds
of dementias, one of which had red midribs and small flowers; two kinds
of Broussalsias, or else the same with two forms; and the full grown fronds
of the beautiful giant staghorn which covers the steep banks with its lace.
These we left alone.
Of those enclosed, t and II I never saw before but they could easily
be overlooked. Mrs. Blacow says III is uncommon but it looks like a young
Cibotium to me. The two club-mosses seemed different from the common kinds
but that may be due to age or habitati VI has the young fronds covered with
gold as they unroll, a very pretty fern. I put in VII because of the young
ferns sprouting on the old. VIII is a young giant staghorn, Mr. Blacow says
one like it grows in parts of Kohala.
These are just samples and not very good ones. But, weather permitting
and if we can get pemission for the Board of Agriculture and Forestry isn't
keen about letting people in^these, our Manuiki Society will take a field trip
there to see birds. At the same time we could gather specimens for you if
we knew what you would like or what to look for. If you Would like us to do
this please let me know. If the enclosed are of no value to you, throw them
away and no tears shed, they may all be very common elsewhere. It was only
fun and no trouble to gather them.
Sincerely yours,
NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN
04056692
/(oajU-TA/YKAL*c‘ 0^1
COLLECTED BY
(MANY PLANTS DESCRIBED IN “PLANTS HAW. NAT. PARK”' <g!~*4.00 AND IN NEW
ILLUSTRATED “FLORA HAWAIIENSIS” @ «3.80 BY qg^JgWENgt.	T. H.)
04056692