Fruits of the Hawaiian IslandsWilder, Gerrit Parmile
Science
Fruits of the Hawaiian Islands
Wilder, Gerrit Parmile
Fruit-culture -- Hawaii
The Kiawe deserves a special mention in this book, as it is, in my
opinion, one of the most valuable and beautiful trees that grows in the
Hawaiian Islands. Perhaps on account of its very general dissemination,
and because of the ease with which it spreads spontaneously, even in the
driest districts, it has received less consideration than has been
accorded to other plants more difficult of propagation.
The Kiawe is the foundation of all the beauty of our lowlands, and
provides a delicate background for other plants. Under favorable
circumstances, it reaches to a height of 50 feet. It has wide-spreading
branches and delicate-green foliage. The flowers yield a delicious
honey, and the seed-pods furnish a valuable fodder, and, finally, when
the tree is cut down, its wood makes the very best of fuel. The Algaroba
is a native of Central and South America. Ordinarily it is a
moderate-sized tree of quick and easy growth. Its branches in most cases
are covered with stout, cylindrical, axillary spines, and in other cases
they are unarmed.
The abruptly bi-pinnate leaves have from 6 to 30 pairs of linear
leaflets about one-fourth to one inch in length. The small, pale-yellow
flowers come in cylindrical spikes. The straight or sickle-shaped
seed-pod is sweet, and is eaten by stock. Propagation is by seed.
The first Algaroba tree of Hawaii was brought to Honolulu in 1828 by
Father Bachelot, founder of the Roman Catholic Mission in the Islands.
It was planted in the Mission garden, where the venerable tree is
standing today.
[Illustration: PLATE CXXI.--_Algaroba_--"_Kiawe._"]
Detailed Transcriber's Notes.
General Notes.
The relative size of items noted in the captions of the Plates relates
to the original book, not to this document. Scaling of the images in
preparation of this e-book and the size and resolution of the media on
which the e-book is read make general statements about the relative
size of the pictured items impossible.
The "Index" was completely reworked so that it reflects the titles
and captions within the body of the book. The original style was
maintained. Details of changes to the "Index" are omitted. The page
number indicates the Plate, not the text preceding it.
The text of the book varies from the original in that obvious
misprints have been fixed. Where the intent of the misprint was not
obvious, it has been left in place and noted below. Use of archaic and
unusual words, spelling and styling has been maintained. Inconsistent
hyphenation has been retained. Capitalization of botanical names is
maintained as in the original. Details of the changes follow.
Details of the Changes.
Frequently used archaic spelling and styling which have been maintained:
anona (annona), cocoanut (coconut), Guatamala (Guatemala) and Nuuanu
avenue (Nuuanu Avenue). Others occur less frequently.
Both the spellings preceding and preceeding were used throughout the
book. They have been standardized to preceding, as noted below.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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