The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1888-10-08

With remarkable keenac,s and .aga.
city. Dr. Hillebraud's familiar
knowledge of everyone of the Is.
lands gives a guaranty of accuracy
to any statement made, and hie we'll
known painstaking fidelity makes
this book q reliable authority IN re-
gard to all matters olNhicl = traats
In the preface due acknowledge
ments are made TO the various resi-.
dents, whose knowledge of Hawaiian
plants, and whose private collections
have been generously put at DR..
llillebrand's disposal in the pr"par-
alton of this "Flora.' J. VI. Lyd-
gate, (now of LaupahOehoe), V.
Knudsen, +. Bailey, f., johnson, +.
Bishop, d. ID. Baldwin, are local
collectors and botauists, whose
names frequently appear. The
maps, specially prepared for this
publication, are a valuable addition:
and the general resume of the sci
ence OF botany (Beutham's) makes
the book specially seryiceable to any
of our young people who may wish
to take up the study Of this interest
ING department of knowledge. There
ought to be many enthusiasts among
us, who will gladly avail themselves
of this means of perfecting their
acquaintance with the wonders and
wealth of vegetable life, as develop
ed in these islands. In the emu
meration of Hawaiian Plants" pub
lished by Horace Mann, Jr,, in
1866, there are described only G20
species, of which 377 arc those
peculiar to these islands Won
Muller, in his seven volumes of the
"Flora Australiensis," describes
about 1900 different species.
The Hawaiian names are given for
306 plants about 200 more might
have been given--but the young Ha-
waiians of this generation are Woe
fully ignorant of the specific names
in their own language even for the
common plants to be seen by the
roadside. The Hawaiian udl0 is
called in Tahitian u0t0rd, in New
Zealand humdrd, and catnodr by
the Quichuas of Ecuador. For the
cocoanut palm the Hawaiian Islands
are said to be the northern limit, as
also for the bread-fruit tree, which
here never natures seeds being pro-
pagated only by suckers. One spe-
cies of the native banana is said Oc-
casionally to produce seeds. The
Chinese Banana, and the so-called
Brazilian, Greatly from Java), were
introduced in 1853. The hdlo is
said to grow nowhere else in such
| perfection az in the Hawaiian Is
lands. The upper limit of profitable
cultivation of the sugar cane is said
to be 2,SOO feet on the lecward and
1,S00 feet on the windward sides OF
these islands. The Dr0$er@ longi-
t0Jj0 is mentioned as flesh-eating
plant, Mr.. Knudsen describing its
leaves as covered with the dead
bodies of flies in every stage of de-
composition.
The book is exceedingly well in
deXed, but while frequent reference
is made to WaiOra, no such name
appears in the list of books quoted
The economical uses of the plants,
or their medicinal value are seldom
mentioned. An interesting account
of the cause of coffee blight is given
on page 17G. The oil of our hetDt0o,'
nuts is said TO he remedy for rheu-
matism, and the juice of the peta-
i0 for chronic ulcers. The
aesthetic student of our Hawaiian
fora will not find much for his use,
but that department is ably present.
ed in Mrs. SincIair's "lndigenou:
Flowers of the Hawaiian Islands
with its colorcd Autographs Of forty
five plants. II.