The Recent Cinder Cones.
Haleakala Crater, 7 miles long and 2½ miles wide, is locally proclaimed the largest extinct crater on earth, but the claim like the name is inaccurate. Nevertheless, it possesses a most unusual geological origin and beauty that give it a worthy place among the National Parks.
HAWAII NATIONAL PARK
HALEAKALA SECTION
The summit depression of Haleakala stimulates speculation, and competent geologists have come up with widely differing hypotheses regarding its origin. In the account of their visit (see The Historical Background, p. 29), the first foreign visitors naturally used the term “crater,” which has been in vogue ever since. Pickering and Drayton of the Wilkes Expedition remark, “The crater of Haleakala, if so it may be called, is a deep gorge.”[10]
Drayton’s sketch was the first published map of the crater. James Dana, the great geologist with the Expedition, sailed past the mountain and later wrote a physiographic description based on notes made by Pickering and Drayton. In the official report, he expressed the idea, suggested by the crude map, that the mountain has been ripped apart by mighty convulsions that attended the most recent activity, so that the northeastern (Hana) part was separated along a zigzag crack from the rest of the mountain by the width of Keanae and Kaupo Valleys.[11] During the great eruptions that attended the rending, lava covered the floor and poured in great floods through Koolau and Kaupo Gaps.
W. D. Alexander, who surveyed the crater in 1869, believed: “... this is a real terminal crater, and not merely ‘a deep gorge open at the north and east’ or a caldera. I have indeed heard the theory proposed that the mountain is but a wreck of a complete dome with a small terminal crater, the whole top of which has fallen in and been carried away, as is supposed to have been the case with some of the volcanoes of Java, and the caldera of Palma.”[12]
C. E. Dutton, volcanologist of the United States Geological Survey, objected to Dana’s explanation and wrote that the depression is “strictly homologous” to Kilauea Crater, that is, a collapsed caldera.[13] He assumed that this had been tapped by the upper ends of Keanae and Kaupo drainages. In 1887, Dana had opportunity to make a quick trip through the crater and down Kaupo Valley, so that he tempered his earlier opinion and decided that Keanae and Kaupo valleys might be graben.[14] Reginald Daly of Harvard rejected the hypothesis that the depression was like Kilauea Crater, since arcuate faults so prominent at Kilauea are apparently absent at Haleakala.[15] In his paper on petrography, Whitman Cross stated, “What is commonly called the crater of Haleakala appears to me to be, in some part at least, a result of erosion.”[16] At about the same time, Sidney Powers stated his belief that Kipahulu and Waihoi Valleys are graben, but he based his opinion on “authentic reports” and does not claim that he saw the valleys.[17]
Ahinahina (silversword).
H. T. Stearns analyzed carefully all the supporting evidence and objections to the various viewpoints.[18] Of all of his profession, he made the most thorough field surveys, with the conclusion that the “crater” is chiefly erosional, affected by the recession of two great amphitheater-headed valleys, instead of by collapse, sliding away of the side of a cone, or explosion. Small craters may have existed at the time, but not a large one resembling the present depression. He believed that the big size results from the fact that the heads were offset and not in a straight line. The shape of the depression is what would result upon the fusion of two amphitheater heads similar to those of Waikoi, Kipahulu, and Manawainui valleys of today. Each of these is a typical Hawaiian valley, narrow at the base, but with a broad amphitheater at the head. Kipahulu is separated from Waihoi and from Kaupo Valleys by narrow divides. It can be assumed that a similar divide once separated the amphitheaters at the heads of the early Kaupo and Keanae drainages. Stearns further believes that once the rift zone was reached, stream erosion was greatly accelerated because of the loosely knit structure, the presence of many weak cinder cones, and the dike complex. This complex, as in other places in Hawaii, must have yielded perennial spring water to accelerate erosion. His summary is as follows:
“No stratigraphic or constructural evidence was found to support the hypothesis that Haleakala Crater is a true caldera, that it was formed by renting, or that Keanae and Kaupo valleys tapping this depression are grabens. Instead, detailed mapping and the examination of water tunnels show that Haleakala dome has been eroded by a number of great valleys. The hypothesis is presented that the so-called “crater” of Haleakala is chiefly, if not entirely, the result of the coalescence of the amphitheater heads of Kaupo and Keanae valleys and that renewed volcanic activity has partly masked their former divide and partly filled these valleys with lava flows.”
Haleakala rises above the belt of warm trade winds into the cold, dry climate of the Alpine Zone. Temperatures at night may drop below freezing even in the warmer part of the year; the growing season is short and life is severe. The sparse plants that can live here crouch closely to the ground, diffusing or forming compact rosettes. All they have in which to grow are porous rocks and loose cinders that cannot hold moisture, lack organic matter, and do not yield a firm base for rooting. Species extending to lower elevations are here depauperate from wind and cold, although elsewhere they may attain a sturdy stature, even tree-size. Few seedlings are seen; individuals whose life span has finished remain conspicuous in death. Neither trees nor mats of shrubs are seen, but mosses and lichens find this Alpine desert to their liking. Oddly enough, one looks in vain for brilliant blossoms, such as one has come to expect in the high Sierra and the Rockies. The summit is a biological island on an oceanic island which, geological evidence indicates, never was part of a continent. The Hawaiian Chain was never near land of appreciable height and size.
How the Alpine plants came to Hawaii is uncertain since they have descended from ancestors so remote that past relationships are vague. The great Swedish botanist, Carl Skottsberg, believes that they are derived from a flora that grew on summits higher than any that exist today. Such assumption adds to the problem, as little else leads one to believe that elevations ever significantly exceeded 14,000 feet, i.e., the highest that exist today. In a report for the Fifth International Botanical Congress (Proceedings, pp. 91-97, Cambridge, 1931), Skottsberg listed 13 species found exclusively in the Alpine Zone, all of which are endemic, native to no other place than Hawaii’s highest volcanoes. Three other species listed as occurring in the Alpine Zone extend their range downward into the next lower Subalpine Zone, for which he has listed a total of 23 species, 20 of which he labels endemic. These adjoining zones are not sharply delimited, but blend into each other at 9,000 feet.
As elevation decreases and conditions for growth become better, the number of plant species increases. The Subalpine Zone with lower limits just above the park entrance has some of the most interesting plants found in the islands. Trees are absent but some of its shrubs extend their range to lower elevations and grow big, sometimes even to tree-size. Most Subalpine plants have small leaves or leaflets, indicating that lasting moisture is still scant. Occasional snowfall seldom remains long and never piles into drifts, which would conserve moisture.
Most of the interior of the crater is bare or thinly covered with vegetation. The uncongenial climate of the summit spills into it and extends throughout its length, though the elevation is much lower. Extensive aa flows, ash, and cinder cones cover the floor. Yet the crater has perhaps become best known through the presence of one of its plants, the silversword. Also, the lips of Koolau and Kaupo Gaps are botanically distinctive in contrast to the barreness elsewhere. This results from the fog and rain that sweep through them in late morning, only to dissolve upon mixing with the warmer air inside. As the day progresses, clouds push further and further inward, until, rarely, the whole depression may become filled. Koolau especially is a treasure-trove for the plant-lover. Below 6,000 feet, quite outside the park, it becomes impenetrable jungle surpassed only by that in Kipahulu Valley, a few miles east. Kaupo Cap is comparatively dry, but it supports a sparse scrub cover of great interest. The lower parts of Kaupo Valley are grazing land. Paliku is the only place within the park in which vegetation is lush. As it climbs Leleiwi Pali, Halemauu Trail is bordered by OHELO and ferns, among them AMAUMAU which is pleasing to the weary hiker’s eye.
In the northwestern angle of the park not far from the inn, Nianiau Crater has had a renowned floral character and history. Today it is overgrazed and drab. Dr. Joseph Rock, Hawaii’s famed dendrologist, discovered a curious tree lobelia, Clermontia haleakalensis, growing within it. He happily described the plant as “antediluvian in appearance.” This most primitive member of a distinctive Hawaiian floral group had a robust trunk from which clumsy, stubby branches shot off, each crowned with a feather-duster of long, thick, strap-shaped leaves like some pompous dictator’s headdress. MAMANE and AKALA grew thickly around it; rarer associates included tree geraniums, Neurophyllodes sp., with flowers like violets, tree Railliardia, shrubby Hawaiian buttercups, and greensword, Argyroxiphium virescens, that is threatened with extermination by grazing to an extent greater than of its relative, the silversword.
BISHOP MUSEUM, J. F. ROCK COLLECTION
Clermontia Haleakalensis.
Even though they are outside the park, some plant communities on the outer slopes of the mountain should be mentioned, because they are related to park forms and carry a compelling interest. The trail from Olinda to Waikamoi is through a transition forest between the wet and the dry that once drew botanists from many parts of the globe. It is now overgrown with foreign weeds, so that native shrubs survive only here and there. The mountain forests above Olinda have all been destroyed and are replaced by plants from faraway lands.
Although it now lies devastated by change, one of the richest botanical regions in Hawaii comprises the forbidding lava fields of Auwahi on the southwest slope of Haleakala. Fifty species of native trees once thrived in its fabulous mixed forests. The only known specimen of Maui hibiscadelphus, H. wilderianus, a relative of the hibiscus, was found here. It had a curved corolla that opened only slightly at the top. Its congener, H. giffardianus, once equally rare, still survives in Kipuka Puaulu at Kilauea, where a few vigorous plants, started by air-layering, receive tender care from the National Park. The last known Maui specimen of MAHOE, Alectryon macrococcus, grows in an Auwahi gulch. This tree has large double fruits (mahoe means twins) that split open to expose a shiny, chestnut-brown seed clasped in a brilliant scarlet aril. The ALANI, Pelea multiflora, of the lava fields is festooned with a lichen, Usnea australis, that appears to prefer it to all other trees. Haleakala sandalwood, Santalum haleakalae, with attractive red flowers grows to be a tree 25 feet tall. Other famous native trees include ’OHE’OHE, Tetraplasandra kauaiensis; ’OHE, Tetraplasandra meiandra; A’E, Fagara sp.; ’ALA’A, Planchonella auahiensis, with golden fruits; HO’AWA, Pittosporum terminalioides; OLOPUA, Nestegis sandwicensis; A’IA’I, Pseudomorus sandwicensis; MEHANE, Antidesma pulvinatum; and KAUILA, Alphitonia ponderosa, whose hard and durable timber was used in sacred structures.
Many unusual plants occur in the steep valleys to the north and east outside the park. Since the dense jungles in which they grow are inaccessible except to hardiest botanists, they are seldom seen. Here grow ’APE’APE, Gunnera petaloidea, a plant with geranium-like leaves three or more feet in diameter; a delicate, rare, native begonia, Hillebrandia sandwicensis; several exquisitely flowering lobelias. The summit bogs on Kukui and Mt. Eke in West Maui have a curious, distinctive flora that includes three species with origins ascribed to the Antarctic: Orebolus furcatus, a sedge; Acaena exigua of the Rose Family; and Lagenophora mauiensis, a composite.
BISHOP MUSEUM, J. F. ROCK COLLECTION
Tetromalopium.
BISHOP MUSEUM, J. F. ROCK COLLECTION
Begonia.
The Haleakala road is the easiest way to reach elevations above 7,000 feet in Hawaii. The lower mountain slopes up which it winds were once clothed with fern jungles that yielded with altitude to dry forest. All is now altered. Extensive grasslands and eucalyptus groves today leave the lasting impression on the visitor. Even on the heights, cattle, goats, introduced plants, insects, and other agents have wrought permanent change. Rare and interesting forms of native life have been exterminated or are well on the way to extinction. The National Park is trying hard to save what is left of the native cover within its boundaries and to restore the former scene wherever it is possible to do so.
BISHOP MUSEUM, J. F. ROCK COLLECTION
’Ape’ape.
Plants of the distinctive Haleakala environment show differences, some slight, some considerable, from close relatives elsewhere. Examples are the OLAPA at Paliku, the silversword, and the KUPAOA. The differences have been fashioned by combinations of factors. The unstable, permeable ash and cinders have scant soil and little available mineral matter. They cannot hold water nor do they yield secure anchorage. The effects of winds, isolation, exposure, and nature of terrain are reflected by the distorted shapes. Silversword, Artemisia, Bidens, and many other plants well show adaptation to peculiar environment. Why are some species found nowhere else? How did the plants get here in the first place and how have they changed with the passing of time? What has been the impact of exotics? What use did the Hawaiians make of the plants? To the hurried and casual visitor, the flora of Haleakala may appear drab and uninteresting. With better acquaintance, it becomes a stimulating study indeed.
THE FERNS. The Sliding Sands Trail drops from White Hill on bare slopes of red and gray Cinders. As it levels below Puu o Pele, a lush, green carpet spreads along the south wall of the crater. It is a surprise to discover that ferns compose the verdure, for several kinds find the shelter of the cliffs agreeable. Haleakala’s KA’UPU, Polystichum haleakalense Brack., a rather coarse, low plant with scaly stems, grows among the shrubs. The pellucid polypody, ’AE, Polypodium pellucidum Kaulf., and the maidenhair spleenwort, ’IWA’IWA, Asplenium adiantum-nigrum L., grow here, but they are common elsewhere as well. Iwaiwa is a small plant with shiny, slender stems and stiff, triangular fronds that thrives in the brush. On Leleiwi Pali it is a tiny thing, clinging to the rocks. This fern is known in mountainous regions in many countries. Another maidenhair spleenwort, ’OWALI’I, Asplenium trichomanes L., makes its home on barren lava above 5,000 feet on the inner slopes of the crater. Its small, opposite, rounded or ovate frond segments, pinnae, grow on wiry stems that form dense clumps. Look for it along Halemauu Trail on Leleiwi Pali. It is found in the temperate zones and on high mountains in many parts of the world.
Bracken, KILAU, Pteridium aquilinum var. decompositum (Gaud.) Tryon, a stiff cosmopolitan, is among the best-known ferns. It grows in grassy spots inside and outside the crater. Foraging pigs, seeking its tasty rootstocks, often uproot it in the forests. The young leaves of AMA’UMA’U, Sadleria cyatheoides Kaulf., add a touch of red along Halemauu Trail on Leleiwi Pali. At Paliku, several moisture-loving ferns grow on logs, rocks, and moss-covered trees. Large, dense ae are quite unlike the frail specimens on Leleiwi Pali. The following can be seen in damp spots and on tree trunks: Maui’s paddle, ’EKAHA, Elaphoglossum reticulatum (Kaulf.) Gaud., with paddle-shaped blades 6-12 inches long; ’EKAHA-’AKOLEA, Pleopeltis thunbergiana Kaulf., a small fern with tough, pale, elliptico-oblong (paddle-shaped) fronds; and MOA, Psilotum complanatum Sw., belonging to a small group of tropical plants, PSILOTALES, which reproduce by spores, but are distinct from true ferns, clubmosses, and the better-known orders.
Swordfern, NI’ANI’AU or ’OKUPUKUPU, Nephrolepis exaltata (L.) Schott., is widely distributed at Haleakala as it is elsewhere in Hawaii. Cliffbrake, KALAMOHO LAULI’I, Pellaea ternifolia (Cav.) Link, grows among rocks in dry, sunny locations at higher elevations above the park entrance and inside the crater. It is common. The bluish-green pinnae of this short, slender fern grow on opposite sides of the dark, wiry stems. They are cleft into three linear segments.
THE NATIVE GRASSES. Several native grasses grow above the park entrance: Trisetum glomeratum (Kunth) Trin., Deschampsia australis forma haleakalensis Skottsb., and Agrostis sandwicensis Hillebr. The Trisetum, also common inside the crater, is called mountain pili, PILI being the lowland grass known in many tropical regions and used for thatching houses in Hawaii. The Hawaiian name for T. glomeratum is PILIUKA, upland pili. In some places it is also called HE’U PUEO, the hoot of an owl.
All three grasses are tufted, i.e., bunch grasses. The Deschampsia has tough, wiry blades (leaves) with shiny, open panicles of flowers and seeds. The Agrostis has stiffly upright blades and culms (jointed stems) with spike-like panicles. The pili has flat blades usually covered with soft hairs. The panicles are contracted or spike-like.
THE SEDGES. Fig. 1. Sedges are generally grasslike wind-pollinated herbs that grow in tufts or bunches. They are often the dominant plants in cold marshes, especially in the Arctic. They have little economic value and grazing animals find them unpalatable. Some have tough, pliable stems that are woven into mats and baskets; some have fruiting spikes that are attractive in dry bouquets. Most have 3-angled stems around which the blades are ranked. The inconspicuous, green flowers are crowded in tight, flattened spikes, often grouped on top of a slender, grasslike stem. Hawaii has a dozen or more native genera with many of its species widespread in the world.
The species common on the upper slopes of Haleakala and on the crater floor, Gahnia gaudichaudii Steud., bears shiny, ebony fruits. These can dangle, suspended by the wilted, threadlike stamens for more than a year from the fruiting stalk. Another sedge, Carex macloviana subfusca (W. Boott) Kukenth., grows in clumps along the south wall. The fruiting stalks bear cylindrical or ovoid clusters of 4-9 spikelets, each ½-1 inch long. This sedge grows from Lapland and Greenland to northern South America, but in Hawaii it has been found only on Haleakala and Kohala Mountains above 4,000 feet. The Hawaiian variety was first described from a specimen collected at Lake Tahoe, California. The interesting Oreobolus furcatus H. Mann, mentioned as occurring on West Maui, also grows in Koolau Gap.
RUSH, Luzula hawaiiensis (O. Ktze.) Buch. A visitor brought me a small tufted plant with grass-like leaves covered with soft, silky hairs. He was all excited, believing he had found a young silversword on the cinder flats near the summit of Mt. Hualalai. The plant was the endemic rush that lives in wet places above 3,000 feet in the mountains of Maui, Hawaii, and Kauai. In Haleakala Crater, I found it on Leleiwi Pali and near Paliku, where others might mistake it for an immature silversword or greensword. The Hawaiian general name for grasses, sedges, and rushes is MAU’U.
PAINIU, Astelia degeneri Skottsb. This plant is reported by Degener to be growing within the crater.[19]
MAU’U-LA’ILI, Sisyrinchium acre H. Mann. A native member of the Iris Family with grass-like leaves that grows on old lava flows between altitudes of 3,500 and 7,500 feet on Maui and Hawaii. It is an attractive plant that rarely exceeds 12 inches high. In July and August it bears yellow flowers ¾ inch across that last only a few hours. In the crater it may be found in Koolau and Kaupo Gaps. The leaves, bound tightly around the wrists and ankles, stain the skin a blue color that lasts several days. This stain was regarded as proof that a person had been to the crater. A number of other species of the genus are mainland wildflowers commonly called blue-eyed grass.
ORCHIDS. Fig. 2. The Orchid Family of over 15,000 species is second only to the Composite Family in size, yet only three species of three genera are native in Hawaii, a land connected in thought with an exuberance of gay orchids. Moreover, the three endemic species are characterized by small size, relative rarity, and inconspicuous flowers. Twayblade, Liparis hawaiiensis H. Mann, grows in open woods on the ground and on moss-covered trees on the flanks of the volcano and at Paliku. The rarest of the three natives, Habenaria holochila Hillebr., has been found growing 1-2½ feet high in deep moss in fog-swept Koolau Gap. It bears its dull-greenish, inconspicuous orchids on a tall, many-flowered spike.
’ALA ’ALAWAINUI, Peperomia sp. A small herb with succulent leaves found at Paliku. It is a member of the Pepper Family, Piperaceae, to which AWA, Piper methysticum, belongs. There are many Peperomias native to Hawaiian forests. Some have leaves with gay red undersides.
SANDALWOOD, ’ILIAHI, Santalum haleakalae Hillebr. Fig. 3. A small but striking tree found above the park entrance, in Koolau Gap, and along the Kaupo Trail below Paliku. It has leathery, dark green leaves so that it stands out in the vegetation and is readily distinguished from afar. In mid-summer, corymbs of four-pointed, deep-red or vermillion flowers appear on the ends of branches. The dry heartwood has the fragrance which is associated with the name sandalwood. Degener tells the detailed story of sandalwood trade that flourished in the islands for fifty years beginning in 1790.[20]
SHEEP SORREL, Rumex acetosella L., an abundant, well-known, introduced weed found both inside the crater and out. A native species called PAWALE, Rumex gigantius Ait., is more interesting. It grows as a stocky undershrub on barren lava flows and in rock crevices inside the crater. In Koolau Gap, it becomes a sprawling vine. It is said that a mixture of an extraction from the boiled bark and AWA was used by Hawaiians for skin diseases. This was tried in vain as a cure for leprosy when the disease first appeared in the islands in 1840.
HAWAIIAN BUTTERCUP, MAKOU, Ranunculus hawaiiensis A. Gray. Like the native violets and geraniums, members of this genus, well-known on the mainland, either become bushy or spread as a woody vine in Hawaii. Two native species occur on Haleakala, but the yellow-flowered, sprawling R. mauiensis A. Gray is reported only outside the park. The larger flowered, erect Hawaiian buttercup, however, was reported by J. F. Rock to be abundant formerly in Puu Nianiau Crater. It is a coarse, hollow-stemmed, hairy herb with compound leaves divided into three sharply-toothed, irregular leaflets. Within Haleakala Crater it grows on moist, grassy slopes in Koolau Gap.
HO’AWA, Pittosporum confertiflorum A. Gray. A small tree, sometimes becoming 25 feet tall. The large leaves, shiny green on top, brown hairy underneath, are crowded like whorls on the ends of the branches. In the centers of these, dense clusters of fleshy, cream-colored flowers appear in late summer. Wrinkled fruits, resembling English walnuts, hang on the trees throughout the year. Very few trees grow in the crater, but they are more numerous above 4,000 feet along the Kaupo Trail and at Ulupalakua. The genus of some 200 species is widespread; it has many species native to Hawaii. Some kinds are well-known garden plants. Pittosporum tobira (Thunb.) Ait., a native of China and Japan, is a favorite shrub in California.
HAWAIIAN HAWTHORN, ’ULEI, Osteomeles anthyllidifolia Smith (Lindl). A spreading shrub with compound leaves and fragrant, small, white flowers, like apple blossoms, that may appear throughout the year. The fruit is white and contains five stony seeds. Plants growing on ash flats are very small. The strong but pliable wood of ulei was used for digging sticks, fish spears, and hoops to keep the mouths of fishing nets open.
HAWAIIAN RASPBERRY, ’AKALA, Rubus hawaiiensis A. Gray. Fig. 5. A shrub with attractive pink flowers abundant at Paliku. It is found also in Koolau Gap at the foot of Leleiwi Pali and elsewhere. The fruit, agreeable but somewhat bitter, is remarkable for its large size. It ripens about the Fourth of July or later. A trailing native, R. macraei A. Gray, sprawls in foggy Koolau Gap. Its large, dark fruits are bitter.
MAMANE, Sophora chrysophylla Salisb. Fig. 4. A common native shrub or small tree of the Bean Family both inside and outside the crater up to tree line. It is recognized by more or less downy, narrow, compound leaves, racemes of yellow flowers, and twisted pods that have four wings and are constricted between the seeds. Goats eat it greedily and quickly exterminate it in an area. The hard, durable wood was used by Hawaiians in many ways; today it is a principal firewood for the crater cabins. A tree in full bloom is a beautiful object. The height of the flowering season is mid-spring.
GERANIUM, NOHOANU, HINAHINA. Fig. 6, 7. Neurophyllodes tridens (Hillebr.) Degener & Greenwell is common above the park entrance and on the south wall within the crater. It sometimes becomes three feet tall and is readily identified by its silvery leaves, each of which has three small teeth on the end. The white flowers have purplish veins especially toward their centers. The blooming season is July to October. The silvery aspect of the plant, like the silversword, is imparted by a mesh of fine white hair that reflects the light of a passing car as effectively as the glass-beaded paint of directional signs.
Two native geranium relatives grow in Koolau Gap, N. ovatifolium (A. Gray) Degener & Greenwell and its variety superbum. The latter is common on the trail to Waikau not far from the foot of Leleiwi Pali.
One of the common plants growing on the crater floor is the exotic pink-flowered G. carolinianum var. australi (Benth.) Fosberg whose pointed fruiting bodies give it the common name, cranesbill.
HAWAIIAN HOLLY, KAWA’U, Ilex anomala Hook and Arn. The forest growing on the talus behind the Paliku cabins is the finest within the crater. A striking tree of this association is the Hawaiian holly that has dark, shiny, oval leaves with conspicuous networks of slightly depressed veins that make identification easy. Dense panicles of small, white flowers are followed by shiny, black drupes, like Christmas holly “berries.” The genus is that of the English holly. Curiously, the scientific name has been locally corrupted to ileck.
OLOMEA, Perrottetia sandwicensis A. Gray. A native shrub or small tree belonging to the same family as the bittersweet of the continent. The numerous tiny, round, red fruits, borne in panicles, suggest the relationship. The bright red venation of leaves and petioles make the plant easily recognized. I know of no plants within the park, but found many trees a thousand feet below the park boundary in Keanae Valley.
A’AL’II, Dodonaea eriocarpa Smith. Fig. 8. This is a common shrub in several varieties along the highway and in the western end of the crater. At Paliku and Kaupo Gap it becomes a tree up to 20 feet high and 8 inches in diameter. Its flowers are inconspicuous but clusters of dry, reddish fruit-capsules contrast, flower-like, with the surrounding green foliage. The fruits, abundant from July to September, are used for leis and dry bouquets. The hard brown heartwood was used for spears, pololu, daggers, pahoa, and other implements.
BEGONIA—PUAMAKANUI, Hillebrandia sandwicensis Oliv. (See illustration p. 53.) The only native begonia, found in wet ravines often by waterfalls. It grows profusely at Koolau a mile below Holua Cabin at the foot of the rain-drenched pali. This succulent herb has a tuberous rhizome, unbranched, slender stems, and hairy, toothed leaves 4-10 inches in diameter. From June to August it bears sprays of bright, pink and white flowers. This is one of the floral treasures of Hawaii.
TARWEED. Cuphea carthagenensis (Jacq.) McBride. A low, sticky, hairy perennial from tropical America widely spread at lower elevations in the park. It has red or green branches, small ovate leaves, and tiny but not unattractive pink flowers ¼ inch across. Plants in rock crevices on cliffs are tiny; on the crater floor, they may become a foot high and form a dense shrubby mat over a sizeable area. The plant belongs to the LYTHRACEAE or Crepe Myrtle Family.
’OHI’A LEHUA, Metrosideros collina (Forst.) A. Gray. Fig. 9. This, the commonest tree in the islands, consists of a swarm of hybrids of which the parentage is still unknown. It is scattered within the park to tree line. It is abundant in the eastern end of the crater and at Paliku. The beautiful flowers, mostly red, a few yellow, may appear throughout the year. Here spring seems to be the best season for them.
EVENING PRIMROSE, Raimannia odorata (Jacq.) Sprague & Riley. A slender, erect, hairy South American herb introduced forty years ago. It is a prolific bloomer, is widespread, and, in blooming season, the most conspicuous flower both at Park Headquarters and within the crater. The large, sulphur-yellow flowers appear at night, but wilt within the following day, turning reddish as they do so.
’APE’APE—Gunnera petaloidea Gaud. (See illustration p. 54.) A huge-leaved forest perennial with a massive prostrate stem which stands erect 3 or 4 feet at the tip. In the center of the leaves a tall stalk rises that bears hundreds of small yellow-brown flowers. I know of no plants within the crater, but some grow within a mile of the park boundary below Koolau Gap, as well as in adjacent wet valleys.
OLAPA, Cheirodendron trigynum (Gaud.) Heller. Fig. 10. This tree occurs in several varieties. The variety oblongum Sherff grows 30 feet tall around the cabins at Paliku, also at Ulupalakua. The variety mauiense Levl. common at Olinda, also grows in Kaupo Gap. The genus is Hawaiian but has a lone representative in the Marquesas. It is widespread in deep soils in all of the islands. The leaves are compound with 3 or 5 leaflets which, at Paliku, have reddish petioles. The panicles of small, green flowers are followed by black drupes. The leaves, bark, and fruit are said to have yielded a blue dye for staining tapa.
’OHELO, Vaccinium reticulatum Smith. Fig. 11. Hikers in the crater are grateful for the widespread ohelo bushes that yield pleasant fruits to be nibbled along the way. In areas rich in moisture, like Koolau Gap, large, maroon bell-shaped flowers droop from the axels of the leaves. The berries found in the eastern end of the crater appear to be largest. The bearing season appears at its height in mid-autumn. The plants along the Halemauu Trail constitute a distinct species, V. berberidifolium Skottsb.
PUKIAWE, Styphelia tameiameiae (Cham.) F. Muell. Fig. 12. A most abundant shrub, both inside and outside the crater, but near the top it is replaced by a trailing shrub that has been classified as S. douglasii (A. Gray) Hochr. The berries of this plant are white, pink, red, or mahogany brown; they are most abundant in winter, but some may be seen on the shrub throughout the year.
KOLEA, Suttonia lessertiana (A.DC.) Mez; syn. Rapanea lessertiana (A.DC.) Degener and Hosaka. Fig. 13. This variable tree grows up to 50 feet tall as one of the common trees around Paliku cabins. The thick leaves with short petioles, crowded near the ends of thick branches, have a beautiful roseate hue when young. The branches are studded with spurs on which grow small 5-parted flowers in clusters of three or more that are followed by dark, purplish-red or black fruits up to ¼ inch in diameter, often so numerous that the branch is completely hidden. Hawaiians made a red dye for tapa from the sap and bark. The crimson sap bleeds freely from a cut made deeply into the bark of a living tree.
SELFHEAL, Prunella vulgaris L., a common weed of Eurasian origin, is widespread in rocky, scrub cover, and at Paliku. A dense cluster of small, lipped, blue to purple flowers appears on the end of each upright stem.
PUA’AINAKA, Stenogyne rotundifolia A. Gray. This endemic long-branched shrub of the Mint Family is found only on Haleakala. Within the crater and on upper slopes it is trailing and is relatively rare, being most abundant in Kaupo Gap. The attractive, pale purple flowers in whorls of six are 1½ inches long and are covered with silky, white hair. They appear in late summer. Outside the crater, S. haliakalae Wawra is abundant in forests as a large, diffuse shrub that often forms a dense mat over surrounding shrubs. Another mint, Stenogyne crenata A. Gray, was collected by Skottsberg among shrubs on the south wall of the crater.
GROUNDCHERRY, Cape Gooseberry, POHA, Physalis peruviana L. A South American perennial herb, widely scattered throughout Hawaii, well-known for its round, orange, many-seeded, husk-enclosed fruits that are edible raw or preserved. It grows extensively in Kaupo Gap. The large yellow flowers with brownish spots near the center appear from June to late fall in this area.
PLANTAIN, LAUKAHI, Plantago sp. Plantain is a hardy, cosmopolitan, stemless weed forming a rosette of broadly oval leaves, 1-10 inches long, near the ground. The tiny flowers and seed capsules are borne as cylindrical heads at the ends of tall stalks. The plant is widespread along the side of the road as well as within the crater. Of several hundred species of Plantago, four or more are endemic to Hawaii. One of these, P. princeps Cham. & Schl., is a shrub several feet high with tufts of long narrow leaves at the ends of the branches. It grows on cliffs at Kaupo Gap. Other plantains with thick leaves, silky underneath, creep on the ground in Koolau Gap.
KUKAENENE, Coprosma ernodioides A. Gray. Fig. 15. A common woody shrub with long trailing branches that send up short, erect, densely foliose branchlets at each node. The awl-shaped leaves are rigid and dark-green. The fruits are shiny black drupes which are a favorite food of the native goose, nene.
PILO, Coprosma montana Hillebr. Fig. 14. One of the commonest shrubs throughout the crater and from Park Headquarters to 9,000 feet outside the crater. It is a small tree up to 20 feet tall in Kaupo Gap. As a shrub the ascending tips look like jets shot up from densely foliose branchlets. The alternate, small, thick leaves have conspicuous nerves impressed on the upper face. Below each pair of leaves is a pair of triangular bracts, stipules, with cilia on the upper border. The greenish, inconspicuous flowers are followed by showy, bright orange, yellow, or red fruits which make the plant a subject attractive to color photographers in fall.
MANONO, Gouldia terminalis (H. & A.) Hillebr. A shrub or small tree growing on the talus above the Paliku cabins. It has shiny, opposite leaves and dense terminal clusters of greenish, four-lobed, cup-shaped flowers that are followed by small black berries. It blooms in late summer. The genus is one of three in the Coffee Family that are endemic to Hawaii.
CATCHFLY, Silene struthioloides A. Gray. Fig. 16. A plant that is typical only of arid Cinders and ash on East Maui and on the island of Hawaii. With the silversword as its companion in Haleakala Crater the plants are found at the bases of barren cones. They show neat adaptation to their stark home. The Haleakala plants, as illustrated, are low and compact, but those growing at Kilauea Crater bear only a few awl-shaped leaves and resemble dead twigs. The thick tap roots are sweet and edible. About 250 species belong to this genus, a member of the Pink or Carnation Family. A well-known introduced weed, the English catchfly, Silene anglica L., was reported by Degener at 10,000 feet on Haleakala.
’OHA, Labelia grayana E. Wimm. A low plant with woody trailing stems with knobby leaf scars and ending with a crowded arrangement of silvery, linear leaves, 4-8 inches long and crowned with densely flowered racemes, 6-15 inches long. The flowers are lilac-blue with a satiny sheen. The plant is not uncommon on wet pali from 5,000-7,000 feet at Paliku, Kaupo and Koolau Gaps, and in the northwestern end of the crater. It is a glorious plant worth hunting for and going miles to see.
NAUPAKA. Scaevola chamissoniana Gaud. This shrub was noted only on the east side of Kaupo Gap. This is a varying species found up to the 6,000-foot elevation. It is not common and blooms in summer. The white flowers with purplish streaks are slit to the base on the upper side. They look like flower-halves rather than complete corollas. There are several legends about the peculiar flower, each dealing with lovers separated from each other. In a song composed about it, the lovers were forceably parted, so the girl divided a perfect corolla, giving one half to her lover while keeping the other half herself. One of the lovers carried the flower to the sea, naupaka kahakai, the other to the mountain, naupaka kuahiwi, where the plants are found today.
MAUI WORMWOOD, Artemisia mauiensis (A. Gray) Skottsb. Fig. 17. Typical of Maui and found only on Haleakala, this hoary ornamental shrub, usually 2-3 feet high, perches on cliffs usually above the reach of man. It has a densely-branched crown with silvery leaves that are aromatic and bitter. The leaves are composed of thin segments that are covered with a mat of cottony hair, giving the plant a silvery appearance. The small orange flowers are borne in terminal panicles.
The Hawaiians call the wormwood AHINAHINA, applied also to silversword, geranium, and other gray plants. The basic word refers to the color of silvery-gray hair, the connection being obvious. Hawaiians use the pounded leaves to relieve asthma. The genus is large, having some 250 species that are generally found in arid regions. The sagebrush of the western states, A. tridentata Nutt., is the best known to most park visitors.
KO’OKO’OLAU, Bidens sp. Like Artemisia, the genus is a huge one with over 200 species and belongs to the Composite Family which includes dandelions, daisies, and sunflowers. E. E. Sherff of the Chicago Museum of Natural History, a specialist on the genus, lists sixty species native to Hawaii. Native KO’OKO’OLAU are shrubby and often of great beauty. This is true of B. campylotheca pentamera Sherff which sprawls over the vegetation in Koolau Gap. It has fern-like leaves and large, pretty, yellowish flower-heads. Hawaiians use the tips of young plants for tea, often in preference over imported tea.
Besides the native varieties, three introduced species grow in the islands, including beggar ticks or Spanish needles, B. pilosa L. It is a nuisance, as the three-pronged fruits that give it the common name readily attach themselves to clothing as well as to fur of passing animals.
KUPAOA, NA’ENA’E. Fig. 18, 19. Several kinds of composite shrubs are called by these names, both of which mean fragrance or perfume. They were used for scenting tapa. They belong to the endemic genera Dubautia and Railliardia, both of which have species found in the park. Dubautia plantagiena var. platyphylla Hillebr. Gaud., a shrub at 6,000 feet in Kaupo and Koolau Gaps, has linear leaves 4-8 inches long, with 7-13 conspicuous nerves. It is a small tree below Nianiau Crater. It is a handsome sight when in flower; the flower-heads are yellow. In general appearance it is much like that of Railliardia platyphylla A. Gray which grows in cinders and ash, mostly inside the crater. At 8,000 feet, R. platyphylla becomes a straggling shrub. The commonest member of this group, Railliardia menziesii A. Gray, is a shrub in the crater and on the rim from 8,000-10,000 feet. Between 6,000 and 7,000 feet it is a tree up to 20 feet tall. The dark green, pointed, linear, fleshy leaves are ranked in vertical rows of four on upright stems and branches. Its dark yellow flower-heads are borne in panicles. R. scabra DC., found in Kaupo Gap and on Leleiwi Pali, does not have the regular leaf arrangement.
PAMAKANI-HAOLE, Eupatorium glandulosum HBK. Eupatorium is another huge genus of the Composite Family with several hundred species, mostly from tropical America. Five species have been introduced into Hawaii of which two are bad pests. E. glandulosum, a native of Mexico, spread rapidly on Maui, crowding out desirable plants and making pasturelands worthless. A parasitic insect, Procecidochares utilis Stone, was introduced in 1944 to combat it. This insect belongs to the order DIPTERA, the flies, gnats, midges, and mosquitoes, and to the family TRYPETIDAE, that includes the Mediterranean fruitfly and the common “apple-worm” which is actually the larva of a fly. The trypetids infest living plants, frequently causing galls, and have piercing ovipositors, often prominent, with which females deposit eggs beneath the skin of their host.
It is not expected that the studied introduction of a parasite will result in the extermination of a host, but rather that it will check unbridled increase and spread. The method is termed “biological control.” It has been successfully adopted against several menaces, such as cactus, lantana, and a fern-weevil, Syragrius fulvitarsis Pascoe, that kills amaumau ferns in the Kilauea Crater area.
Pamakani abound throughout the crater, even clinging as tiny starvelings in small cracks in cliffs, like those along Halemauu Trail. Every plant shows swellings in which the little maggots live, and exit holes through which the new adults emerge. Many plants bear only few leaves and fight tenaciously for survival. Big plants may be seen along Kaupo Trail. Pamakani means wind-blown, in reference to the method of seed dispersal.
HAIRY CAT’S-EAR, “Dandelion,” Hypochoeris radicata L. A common composite, native to the Mediterranean, found in abundance throughout the park. Its narrow leaves with yellow hairs form flat rosettes. A branching, leafless stalk up to a foot or more tall bears yellow flower-heads, an inch in diameter, that resemble the well-known dandelion, Taraxacum officinale Weber, by which common name many call the cat’s-ear. The hairless, H. glabra L. is a smaller plant with smooth leaves and flower-heads ¼ inch in diameter. The cat’s-ear is a favorite food of the Hawaiian goose, nene. Gosmer is a common name used locally.
WOOD GROUNDSEL, Senecio sylvaticus L., a native of Europe, is a branching, weedy herb, 1-2 feet high, abundant along the foot of Kalahaku Pali. It has irregularly lobed leaves and small yellow flowers in a tight flower head, ⅓ inch long and ½ inch in diameter.
TETRAMALOPIUM. Fig. 20, illustration p. 53. This endemic genus has a dozen species, two of which are a pride of Haleakala. The small leaves are narrow and crowded at branch ends. The showy flowerheads of white, pinkish, or lavender ray florets surround a disk of purplish central florets. T. humile (A. Gray) Hillebr. is found inside and outside the crater between 6,000-9,000 feet. It is a small, low, shrubby plant with narrow, spoon-shaped leaves quite covered with sticky, curly hair. The plant growing in cracks between rocks at the very summit is stiffer and considerably different.
SILVERSWORD, AHINAHINA, Argyroxiphium sandwicense DC. Illustrations on cover and pages iv, 47. As famous as the crater itself, and almost as well-known, the silversword is regarded as typical of Haleakala, although its natural range embraces Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea, and Hualalai from 7,000 to 12,000 feet. A lustrous silvery down thickly covers all leaves and makes the plant exceedingly beautiful. It is highly evolved to withstand the extreme dryness of cinder cones and the intense sunlight of lofty elevation. Surprising to most visitors on first acquaintance is the fact that it bears no relationship to the yucca of the Lily Family, but belongs to the COMPOSITAE along with sunflowers, asters, and chrysanthemums. Like Dubautia and Railliardia, it has no close relatives outside of the islands. Wilkesia, endemic to Kauai, is so closely similar that some authorities class it in the genus Argyroxphium.