Abstract
UNDER the title “The Leguminous Plants of Hawaii” (issued by the Experiment Station of the Hawaian Sugar Planters' Association), Mr. J. F. Rock gives a systematic account of the native, introduced, and naturalised trees, shrubs, vines, and herbs belonging to the family Leguminosae. Detailed descriptions are given of all the native and established species, with notes on distribution and economic uses; keys to the genera and species are also included. In all, 200 species belonging to 71 genera are described, and there are 93 excellent full-page photographic reproductions of the more important species. The percentage of indigenous species in this family is very osmall, and of these only six are trees, one is a shrub, and the remainder are, with few exceptions, usually shore-plants or grow near the shore, and are distributed over most of the Pacific Islands. This poor representation of one of the largest families of flowering plants contrasts remarkably with its rich representation in tropical Asia, and is a strong argument against the existence of any previous land connection with the Asiatic continent. The writer regards the Leguminosae as a strong factor in proving the assumption that the Hawaian islands are purely oceanic in character; he proposes to discuss thoroughly the origin of the flora in a work on the phyto-geography of the islands which he has in preparation.
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Descriptive Botany. Nature 107, 346–347 (1921). https://doi.org/10.1038/107346b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/107346b0