Studies in the Hawaiian Rutaceae, IV. New and Critical Species of Pelea A. Gray

Abstract

The following notes, including descriptions of four proposed new species, are the partial outcome of monographic studies of Hawaiian genera. Pelea is a genus confined to the Hawaiian and Marquesan archipelagoes, with all but two of its species endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. There are-four relatively natural sections of the genus, characterized primarily by features of the mature fruits and to a lesser extent by leaf arrangement. Systematic treatment of section Pelea, which includes the type species, Pelea clusiaefolia, is completed. The following notes apply to sections Apocorpa, Megacarpa, and Cubicarpa, as defined by the writer (Stone in Degener, 1962). Related studies have recently appeared or are now in press (Stone 1962a, 1962b, Stone in Degener, 1962). Casual collecting of species of Pelea was begun by the author in 1955; in 1958 and 1959 and summer, 1961, intensive field and herbarium studies were carried out. Through the courtesy of the U.S. National Herbarium, Smithsonian Institution, loans of historically important collections were obtained, and I am grateful to Dr. H.R. Fletcher. of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh, Dr. George Taylor of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Dr. J.E. Dandy of the British Museum (Natural History) , Dr. Alicia Lourteig of the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, Dr. Richard A. Howard of the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, and Dr. A.J. Eames of Cornell University for their aid. I am particularly indebted to the former Director of the Bishop Museum, Dr. Alexander Spoehr, Botanist Marie C. Neal, and Curator of Collections E.H. Bryan, Jr., for their generous assistance.