Studies in Hawaiian Rutaceae, II. Identity of Pelea sandwicensis

Abstract

The Hawaiian rutaceae, comprising the three indigenous genera Pelea, Platydesma, and Fagara, include some 70 or 80 species all of which are trees or shrubs. Individuals of various species of Pelea, in particular, constitute an important element in much of the Hawaiian vegetation. The genus Pelea (commemorating Pele, goddess of Hawaiian volcanoes) was established by Asa Gray, who described several species. Gray's student Horace Mann botanized in the Hawaiian Islands with William Brigham, collected on several islands, and published several important works on the taxonomy of Hawaiian plants. One of Mann's special interests was the Hawaiian Ruraceae, and in a revision of these plants (in 1866) he described several new species and established the endemic genus Platydesma. Later, in his incomplete Flora of the Hawaiian Islands, Mann presented a detailed treatment of Pelea. It is from the original description of. Pelea sandwicensis according to Gray, and from Mann's writings, that a long-held misconception of the identity of this perplexing species stemmed.