es Hl Universi The economic wi aang ia” 1056 Aw iCt wt & Se EL ase rag yor PF HAWAII AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION, JARED G. SMITH, SpEciaL AGENT IN CHARGE. THE ECONOMIC SEAWEEDS OF HAWAII AND THEIR FOOD VALUE. BY MINNIE REED, M. §S., ScIENCE TEACHER KAMEHAMEHA MANUAL TRAINING SCHOOLS, Hono_LuLtv, Hawaltl. [Reprint from the Annual Report of the Hawaii Agricultural Experiment Station for 1906.} WASHINGTON : GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1907 OK Sip R3X CONTENTS. Methods ‘of-gathering IMU incnncaxen oye neewy erases se Reena eeeeewme eels Native methods of preparing and serving limus for food___..-...--.--------- Methods of preserving seaweeds ...-....--..-- 2-22-22 eee eee eee eee eee eee eee The limus most abundant and easily gathered_............--.-------------- Native methods of cultivating limus ....-......--.--.------------------+---- Value and amount of native seaweeds sold in Honolulu .........------------ Value of seaweeds imported by Orientals into Hawaii...-....-.----.-------- Use of limus for medicine and incantations._..--....--.----------------+---- Chemical analyses and comparative food values of seaweeds.._..- poo Amount of gelatin or glue found in Hawaiian algee..._..--.-..-------------- Hawaiian limus for making agar-agar for culture media .............---.---- Further utilization of Hawaiian seaweeds for food, gelatin, farina, glue, and SVG AE Oa a coe fees cco ted reer apestre verte ieee eee ea AiR SES Methods of preparing jellies, blancmange, soups, etc.....-.--..------------- Comparison of Hawaiian and Japanese species of economic algee..._....-.--- Possibility of cultivating native, Japanese, Java, or Ceylon alge in favorable localities on the Hawaiian or American coast...........------------------ General summary of the possibilities of the seaweed industry..........-..--- List of edible algee of Hawaiian Islands .............--.-2.-02.--------00--- 80 82 82 84 85 86 ILLUSTRATIONS. Puate IV. Fig. 1.—Using glass-bottomed box to search for limu. Fig. 2.— Cleaning and preparing limu._................--.------------ V. Limu kohu, Asparagopsis sanfordiana .........-..--------------- VI. Fig. 1.—Limu manauea, Gracilaria coronopifolia. Fig. 2.—Limu HHA CYP NCSD ene sac Meee nde ace tee loads VII. Fig. 1.—Limu pakaeleawaa, Grateloupia filicina. Fig. 2.—Limu akiaki, Ahnfeldtia concinna Iv THE ECONOMIC SEAWEEDS OF HAWAII AND THEIR FOOD VALUE. By Minnie Regn, M. S., Science Teacher, Kamehameha Manual Training Schools, Honolulu, Hawaii. Hawaii has nearly a thousand miles of coast line; as a consequence the native Hawaiians are skillful and daring fishermen and sailors, as well as splendid swimmers. The Hawaiians, like the Japanese, are fond of almost all the products of the sea, and, like them, prize the seaweed very highly for food. Ancient Hawaiians probably seldom ate a meal without some kind of limu“ or seaweed, and even to-day no Hawaiian feast is considered quite complete without several varieties served as a relish with meats or poi.? Many tons of these seaweeds are gathered and eaten by the Hawaiians annually, besides large quantities are imported from the Orient and San Francisco for the consumption of both the Japanese and Chinese. The seaweed sold in Honolulu alone amounts annually to thousands of dollars. Before the coming of the white man to these islands the diet of the poorer Hawaiians was largely poi, fish, and limu. Even poi was scarce in times of war or famine, and then the poorer fishermen contented themselves with only fish and limu. Sometimes for weeks no other vegetable food could be obtained but limu, which can be gathered all the year, except during very severe storms. Sweet potatoes, taro, and bananas could only be grown in the good soil, where there was plenty of rain or sufficient water for irrigation. Many of the fishing villages had no fertile land near them, so these people were com- pelled to go to the mountain valleys to secure all their food except what they fished from the sea. Until the death of Kamehameha the Great (1819) women suffered the death penalty if they ate bananas, cocoanuts, turtles, pork, or certain fish, so that their diet was even more limited than that of the men. They must have suffered greatly during times of famine and war, when their only food came from the @Limu is the Hawaiian name generally applied to all water plants, and is equiva- lent to our word alge. They sometimes include various pond weeds, or fresh-water limu, as nitella, chara, etc. Usually limu means either fresh or salt water alge that are edible. > Poi is a thick paste made from the root of the taro plant (Colocasia esculentum), and takes the place of rice or bread in the native diet. It is made by pounding the moistened boiled or steamed roots with water to smooth paste, which is then slightly fermented. (61) 62 sea. Before the coming of the missionaries there were no fruits except bananas, cocoanuts, and the mountain apple, and none of these were ever abundant, except the mountain apple or ohia,¢ which is plentiful only during July and August in the mountain valleys wher- ever there is a heavy rainfall. It was because of this limited food supply, no doubt, that the early Hawaiians learned to use for food almost every living thing, both plant and animal, found along their coasts. Almost every kind of seaweed that could possibly be eaten was used for food by some Hawaiians, while certain of the more attractive alow were universally used wher- ever and whenever it was possible to secure them from the sea. The people living in the mountain valleys used, in addition to marine alga, several kinds of the soft green fresh-water alge from the streams and ponds. Nothing edible, from tiny shellfish or minnows an inch long to great sharks, escaped the hungry Hawaiian fisherman. Likewise he gathered seaweeds, large and small, and also the fine green alge of the fresh water to satisfy his hunger for vegetable food. The limu had to take the place of all green vegetables—as onions, lettuce, beets, beans, peas, etc.—as well as fruits, and must have helped very much to vary the monotony of a diet of fish and poi, which were then as now the two staple foods of the native Hawaiians. There are over seventy distinct species of alge or limu used for food by the Hawaiians. Of these seventy species not more than forty are in general use. The other thirty or thirty-five are used only by a few people in certain small areas where they are found in limited quantities. There are perhaps a dozen or more common species of alge, mostly marine, that are termed by the Hawaiians simply limu, or with some descriptive appellation, like limu make, meaning poison- ous limu. Each edible limu has its own special appellation besides the generic name limu with which it is combined either as a descrip- tive adjective or as a suffix. The following notes and observations have been collected during the last three years from various sources, and from personal study in the markets and along the beaches wherever the limu gatherers were at work collecting or preparing algee for food. In addition to this, much information has been secured from Hawaiian friends who have very kindly assisted the writer in various ways in collecting both the speci- mens and data. The writer is especially indebted to Mrs. Emma Met- calfe Nakuina, Mrs. W. L. Bowers, Mrs. Elizabeth Kahanu Gittle, Mrs. Rosina Shaw Leslie, Mrs. Kepoikai, Mr. B. K. Kaiwiaea, Mrs. Deverel, Judge Kahele, and many others for the native names, speci- mens for study, and descriptions of the methods of preparing them @ Eugenia malaccensis, in the valleys and mountain slopes in the lowest forest zone. Fruit sweetish, juicy, about size of early June apple, and resembling a red apple, except in flavor. 63 for food. A number of the pupils of the Kamehameha schools from different islands have, with the aid of their relatives, helped secure specimens of their edible algee with the native names. They have also furnished many notes on the preparation and preservation of algz for food. The writer is also very greatly indebted to Dr. W. A. Setchell, of the University of California, for identifying and verifying many specimens, and to R. A. Duncan, food commissioner and chemist of the Territory of Hawaii, for analyzing the edible algee and for the use of his library. The following publications have been consulted for tables of analyses and other data: U. S. Dept. Agr., Office of Experiment Stations Cir- cular 46 (rev.), by C. F. Langworthy, Ph. D.; Office of Experiment Stations Bulletins 68, 107, and 159; United States Dispensatory; Analyses of Taro and Poi, report of Dr. E. C. Shorey when food commissioner and chemist of the Territory of Hawaii; Postelsia, the Yearbook of Minnesota Seaside Station, 1901; and Seaweed Industries of Japan and the Utilization of Seaweeds in the United States, by Hugh M. Smith. Bul. [U. S.] Bureau of Fisheries, 24 (1904). METHODS OF GATHERING LIMUS. Most of the limu is gathered by native women and children, except that which grows in the deeper or rougher water, far out on the coral reefs, or on exposed rocks, where expert swimming and more strength are required, and also where a boat is usually needed. In such places at least two people are required, and often a party of three or more men and women go together. The women usually gather the limu while the men are fishing and caring for the boat and nets. The limu gatherers go out at low tide with tin pails, old sacks, and pieces of sharpened iron or an old knife, and scrape the seaweed from the coral or rocks. The seaweed is freed from sand and pebbles and each kind placed in a separate receptacle, if possible. If the limu grows nearer shore in the sand or mud, or floats in near the beach, the women and children wade out, gathering it without any implements, carefully washing out the sand, mud, or small sea animals, and pulling out all inedible limu before placing it in their pails or sacks. They often wade out into the water above the waist, following the tide as it recedes. A few varieties of limu drift ashore, and are simply gathered along the water’s edge from the rocks and sand and shaken free from the sand or inedible weeds. The following varieties are often found drifted on the sand or rocks: Limu huna (Aypnea nidifica), limu manauea (Gracilaria coronopifolia), limu kala (Sargassum echinocar- pumand S. cymosum), and limu lipeepee or limu maneoneo (Laurencta papillosa, L. pinnatifida, L. virgata, L. obtusata, and a few other species of Laurencia not yet identified). 64 Limu uaualoli (Gymnogongrus vermicularis. var. americana and @. diciplinalis), limu kohu (Asparagopsis sanfordiana), limu aalaula (Codium muelleri and C. tomentosum), limu lipoa (Dictyota acutiloba var. distorta and Haliseris plagiogramma), and limu lipeepee of several varieties grow far out on the coral reefs or on exposed rocks in the surf. These all have rather tough, firm holdfasts, and a stout sharp knife or chisel is required to loosen them from their supports and strong swimmers to gather them. Those named above are usually gathered by a party in a boat, though sometimes the limu gatherers venture far out on the shallow coral reefs with only their pails or bags and their chisels. The following varieties of limu grow quite near the tide line along shore, but on exposed black lava rocks in rough water: Limu akiaki (Ahnfeldtia concinna), limu loloa (Gelidium capillacea, G. corneum, G. filicinum (1), G. pulvinatum (2), G. latifolium (2), G. attenuatum (2),and Pterocladia capitlacea), limu uaualoli (Gymnogongrus disciplin- alis), and limu luau (Porphyra leucosticta). These all have very tena- cious holdfasts, so generally require a strong, skillful swimmer with a knife or chisel to gather them in large quantities. Those growing near shore in quiet waters in sand or mud or on small stones are easily gathered with only the bare hands, and usually the older women and children gather these varieties, while the men and the younger strong women gather the varieties growing in the rougher or deeper water. The following are the varieties easily gathered near shore: Limu eleele ¢ (Znteromorpha prolifera, E. linza, E. intestinalis, E. prolifera var. tubulosa, and E. plumosa), limu huna (Hypnea nidi- jeca), limu manauea (Gracilaria coronopifolia), limu pakaeleawaa or limu huluhuluwaena? ( Grateloupia filicina), limu huluilio ( Chetomorpha antennina, Ectocarpus sp. (%), Centroceras clavulatum, and Stigeoclo- nium amenum), limu pahapaha’ (Ulva fasciata and U. lactuca var. rigida), limu oolu (Chondria tenuissima var. intermedia), and limu puaki (Ziagora decussata). There are besides a few other species found only in small quantities, or in certain localities, and only eaten by the Hawaiians in remote districts, or by a small group of families who alone seem to appreciate their flavor. Limu luau (Porpiyra leu- costicta) is one of these which appears in winter or spring after heavy @Limu eleele is applied to a number of slender thread-like green alge growing near the mouths of streams in brackish water. Most of them are Enteromorphas. On Maui the edible Enteromorphas are called by some natives limu pipilani. > Limu huluhuluwaena is the native name for Grateloupia filicina, generally used on the island of Hawaii and in frequent use on Maui and Oahu, while limu pakae- leawaa is the name always used on Kauai and in common use on Molokai, Maui, and Oahu. eLimu pahapaha is applied to several Ulvas on Oahu, Molokai, Maui, and Kauai, while limu pakaiea is the name for the same Ulva on Hawaii. PiaTe IV. An. Rpt. Hawaii Agr. Expt. Station, 1906. Fila. 1.—USING GLASS-BOTTOMED BOx TO SEARCH FOR LIMU. Fic. 2,—CLEANING AND PREPARING LIMU, 65 storms and last for only a few days. It is found on bold exposed rock constantly dashed by waves, so it is difficult and dangerous to collect it, especially as it is extremely slippery and has to be scraped forcibly ftom the rocks in small bunches while the collector clings to his support and avoids the heavy waves. He must be sure-footed, quick, and a strong swimmer, if he collect limu luau. Limu eleele must always be floated or dipped out of the water into pails, because it always grows at the mouth of streams in the quiet brackish water, so is full of silt or sand. This is partly washed out as the limu is scraped or floated out with the hands into the pails. This limu is very fine and slippery, like hair, so it must be handled in a diffezent manner from other alge, and requires much more care to remove the sand, the small, clinging mollusks, and crustaceans. Occasionally you will see a limu gatherer out on the reef, in water almost to her waist, looking very intently through a square glass- bottomed box, and now and then probing the depths with a sharpened iron rod. The iron rod is used to loosen certain mollusks, limu uaua- loli, limu lipoa, limu maneoneo, and also to kill eels and octopi, all of which are highly prized for food. The boxes or square frames with a glass bottom have been recently introduced by the Italian fishermen, and are not in general use even near Honolulu. In Plate IV, figure 1, will be seen a limu gatherer looking through the glass box, probing with the iron bar, with a large bag suspended from her neck, into which she thrusts her limu, mollusks, or squid.? At low tides, when the water recedes, wherever there are flats or shallow coral reefs and quiet water, one can see many natives with bags and old knives wading far out gathering limu and other sea edi- bles, as mollusks, squid, sea urchins, and sea cucumbers or béche de mer. - NATIVE METHODS OF PREPARING AND SERVING LIMUS FOR FOOD. Immediately after gathering the limu it is very carefully washed, either in salt or fresh water, to remove all sand, mud, or clinging mol- lusks and crustaceans. The Hawaiian women are most particular about this cleaning process, so wash the seaweed through many waters, and look it over very carefully to remove every particle of grit or inedible limu that often becomes entangled with the edible varieties. (See limu cleaning in Plate IV, figure 2.) A few varieties of limu can not be washed in fresh water without injuring the flavor and causing a very rapid decay, so that in a few hours it is entirely unfit for food. The following are the very perish- able varieties that must be cleaned in salt water and eaten soon after a@The term ‘‘squid’’ is universally applied to the common octopus, Octopus octopodia. 1290 OR as 66 preparation: Limu oolu, limu lipeepee, limu lepeahina (Halymenia JSormosa), limu moopuna-ka-lipoa (Grifiths’a sp.?), and probably a few others not in general use. After cleaning, the seaweed is always salted and usually broken, pounded, or chopped into small pieces, and usually it is eaten uncooked asa relish with poi, meats, or fish. Raw fish is never eaten without limu or some other relish, such as raw tomatoes, chili peppers, or onions. The Hawaiians in the ancient times seldom cooked their limu, though it was occasionally placed in the imu or earthen pit with pig or dog and roasted or steamed. This was done when there was a famine or war and taro and sweet potatoes were scarce. [imu akiaki, limu huna, limu manauea, and limu uaualoli were all sometimes cooked in this way as a substitute for taro and sweet potatoes. The Hawaiians of to-day do far more cooking than formerly, because they are not hampered for cooking utensils as their ancestors, who had no vessels that could be set over the fire. Water could only be heated by putting in hot stones, and boiling or stewing was almost impossible. Their only method of cooking meats or fish was in the primitive imu, or pit lined with-stones and heated with a big fire. This when well heated was lined with banana and ti? leaves, then pigs, dogs, fish, taro, or sweet potatoes were placed on the ti leaves, cov- ered well with ti and banana leaves, while over this was heaped earth. This was allowed to steam twelve hours or more before serving. Usually hot stones were placed in the pig to hurry the cooking, or if the pig was large it was cut into small pieces for each individual. These small pieces with a roll of taro leaves or some gelatinous limu were placed in ti leaves and tied in bundles, which were placed in the pit and roasted as described above. The limu when steamed in this way with meats becomes gelatinous and is flavored with the meat juices. It is considered very delicious by the natives, who always eat it with the roasted meat and sweet potatoes. Very few poor Hawaiians have stoves or ovens, so that all their baking or roasting is still done in the primitive way. Their cooking is done over a fire in an old coal-oil tin out of doors, hence must be very simple. Meat is usually boiled or stewed in small quantities with taro leaves or limu. Whenever any Hawaiian gives a large dinner the pig and fish are roasted in the imu as in olden days. The following limus are often cooked with boiled meats or put into soups or gravies for thickening and flavoring, as well as with roast pig in the imu: Limu akiaki, limu uaualoli, limu loloa, limu lipeepee, limu 4 Cordyline terminalis, found on the mountain sides on the edges of the forest. The ljeaves are used instead of paper for wrappers for food, and for plates, ete. The root is roasted and eaten and is also fermented into a kind of strong drink like rum. 67 kohu, limu lipoa, limu eleele, limu pahapaha, limu huna, limu manauea, limu aalaula, and limu kala. The tougher, more cartilaginous ones are boiled long enough for the gelatin to be softened or dissolved, as limu akiaki, limu huna, limu manauea, limu uaualoli, limu loloa, and limu lipeepee, while the others are only dropped into the hot soup or gravy just as it is about to be served. Limu huna is especially prized for boiling with squid or octopus, though limu manauea and limu akiaki are often used as substitutes. These limus, when boiled with squid, produce a jelly of which the Hawaiians are very fond. Limu manauea is considered by native cooks especially fine when boiled with chicken, as it thickens the broth. Sometimes grated cocoanut and cocoanut milk are added to the chicken, forming a very delicious fricasse, which the writer has tested with very great appreciation. The writer has tried nearly all of these gelatinous limus with boiled beef and in beef or other soups, and finds them excellent. They are particularly palatable in vegetable soups, and are probably equally good in chicken or mutton broth, where the limu would make an excellent substitute for tapioca or sago, so often used by American cooks. Limu eleele, being a general favorite and so widely distributed, forms a part of every native feast. After being thoroughly soaked and washed in fresh water it is salted slightly and served uncooked, with poi and fish or meats. It is sometimes put into hot gravy or broth and in meat stews just before being served. It may be kept with a little salt about a week. Some natives allow it to pass through what they call a ripening process, which is as follows: The limu is soaked twenty-four hours or more in fresh water after being cleaned, when it begins to change color, becomes yellowish, slimy, and decomposes somewhat, developing a very rank odor. It is then said to be ripe and ready to eat. When sold in the market it is usually freshly prepared the day before, so is generally eaten without ripening or decomposing. Limu aalaula, Limu kala, limu moopuna-ka-lipoa, and sometimes limu pahapaha pass through very much this same process of ripening before they are served by some of the Hawaiians in certain localities. Limu kala when ripened in this way is separated from the stems and floats, as only the leaves are eaten. Limu kala is more often eaten fresh and without any preparation whatever. Just as it is taken from the sea it is broken into convenient pieces and serves as a relish with raw fish or squid, which are frequently eaten on the beach as soon as they are taken out of the water and almost before they are dead. The edible fresh-water alge are often subjected to the ripening process described above. There area number of these fine green algee much alike in appearance called limu palawai, or lipalawai, limu nehe, and limu haulelani, which are usually found in the cool, swift mountain streams or pools. They are all the green threadlike forms of Cladoph- 68 ora nitida, Spirogyra sp. (2), Hydrodictyon reticulatum, Pithophora afinis, P. polymorpha, Stigeoclonium amenum, S. sp. (?), and other species unidentified, probably Spirogyraand Cladophora. These fresh- water alge are sometimes taken fresh from the stream and eaten with fresh-water shrimps or opai and a little salt. These fresh-water limus are also occasionally cooked with pig in the imu, or put into the gravy. Most of the fresh-water alge are eaten by the natives living in the mountain valleys, as the people on the beach seem to prefer their own more accessible seaweeds. There is a flowering plant found in fresh-water ponds that is eaten by the Hawaiians with great relish, especially with raw opai. This flowering plant (Wazas major) is called limu kala-wai because it resem- bles slightly the limu kala from the sea. It is eaten raw with a little salt, much as water cress. It is considered particularly appetizing with raw fresh-water shrimps, opai, or crabs. It is often sold in the market during February and March, when it seems to be most abundant. Limu lipoa is very often pounded and mixed with other seaweeds to give them its peculiar penetrating, spicy flavor and odor. It is fre- quently served with meats or put into the gravy or stews to give to them a peppery flavor, of which the Hawaiians are very fond. All Hawaiians like the odor and flavor of this alga, especially with raw fish. It is considered particularly delicious with raw flying fish, if simply broken and salted slightly. This seaweed has a very agreeable spicy taste and odor, and undoubtedly takes the place of sage and pepper in Hawaiian foods. Limu kohu is always pounded well as it is being cleaned to free it from adhering bits of coral, and also so that it may be soaked more thoroughly to remove the disagreeable bitter flavor. It is soaked twenty-four hours or more in fresh water, to remove the bitter iodin flavor. It is then salted ready to be served as a relish or salad with meats, fish, and poi, or it is mixed with other seaweeds and put into hot gravy and meat stews, just as many other limus are eaten. Limu kohu has a rather pleasant flavor, though it is slightly bitter even after soaking twenty-four hours. It is always found in the market made into balls about the size of a large baseball and heaped upon large plates. It sells at 25 cents per ball and is always in great demand;, A very delicious condiment called inomona is made of the roasted kernel of the kukui? nut pounded fine with salt. Many Hawaiians also add a bit of chopped chili pepper and some limu, usually limu kohu, which is pounded very fine and then thoroughly mixed with the @The kukui tree or candlenut (Aleurites mollucana) grows abundantly in our mountain valleys and mountain sides, bearing oily nuts, which were strung on grass and burned for torches or candles in ancient times. The oil was extracted and burned in stone lamps. The nuts are edible if roasted. 69 pounded kukui nuts and salt. This will keep for months in glass jars, and is excellent with bread and butter or cold meats. It resembles Russian caviare in flavor, especially when eaten with bread and butter. The Hawaiians serve this with poi, raw or cooked fish, or roast meats as a relish or condiment. Other limus as limu lipeepee or limu manauea are also sometimes used in making inomona, and if chili peppers can not be obtained, the large green peppers are cooked in ti leaves, then pounded and used instead. The dried gills of the squid roasted in ti leaves are also added by some Hawaiians. Limu luau or limu lipahee, as it is called in Hawaii (Porphyra leu- costicta), is prepared by washing in the usual way in fresh water. It is then salted a little and put into clear water, where it becomes slip- pery and colors the water a lovely violet color. Sometimes opihi, a kind of limpet or mollusk, is put in with the limu and salt and water and placed in bottles or jars. This is used as needed, for it keeps many weeks when placed in the weak brine with the limpets. The tender tips of limu pahapaha are sometimes prepared by rubbing and crushing between the fingers, and then it is mixed with small mollusks of a special kind and salt. The finely pounded limu uaualoli is some- times mixed with salt and small limpets in very much the same way. The soft parts, particularly the eggs and sperm, of several kinds of sea urchins are salted and mixed with limu uaualoli, limu kohu, or other pounded limus, and this mixture is served and always eaten raw fora relish or entré. In the same way loli (several species of holo- thurians, as sea cucumbers, béche de mer, and others) are cut into small pieces and mixed with pounded limu, salt, and sometimes a little chili pepper is added and then served uncooked. Limu lipahapaha is sometimes boiled with squid, just as limu huna, and forms a gelatinous mass when cold. Limu ekahakaha is some- times simply pounded and mixed with limpets and sometimes it is cooked with the limpets and seasoned with chili peppers and salt. Limu aalaula is often pounded very fine and mixed with pounded salted squid, while chili peppers may also be added if preferred. It is also sometimes pounded with other seaweeds to be eaten with poi and fish or meats. Limu kala is sometimes broken into small pieces and soaked in fresh water until it turns dark and soft, then stuffed into salmon before it is roasted, or it is chopped with fish heads and salt. Again it is some- times ripened by putting in water with a few mollusks called leho, salted slightly, and allowed to stand several days before eating. Limu kala is more often than any other limu eaten on the beach, without any preparation other than rinsing off the sand and breaking into con- venient pieces for eating with raw fish or squid. It is also sometimes put into meat gravies or stews just as it is served. Limus when eaten raw and crisp with a little salt, or with chopped 70 chili peppers added, are very pleasant appetizers with meats or fish. The writer. thinks that the Americans and Europeans would find them more palatable with the addition of vinegar or lemon and pepper, or possibly an oil dressing. They serve much the same purpose in the Hawaiian diet as our salads, and certain varieties certainly have a very pleasant saline flavor and crispness. Sometimes various shellfish, as crabs, shrimps, small mollusks, and holothurians or sea cucumbers, are chopped into small pieces and then mixed with the pounded limu and salt and often bits of chili pepper are added to the mixture. This is served with poi, meats, or fish. Certain seaweeds are always used with certain kinds of fish or mol- lusks, because their peculiar flavors are considered best when blended together. Shellfish and mollusks are usually eaten raw, and that is probably why chili peppers are usually added, just as with raw fish; to sharpen the flavor, which alone is rather insipid. THE MOST POPULAR VARIETIES OF LIMUS. The three limus which are most popular and in the most general use by natives on all the islands are limu eleele, Jimu kohu(Pl. V), and limu lipoa. None of the other limus are so widely distributed on all the islands nor found in sufficient quantities to be in such general use and favor, except limu pahapaha and limu kala. Neither of these is popular with many Hawaiians, so they are used but little, even though abundant on all the islands. Next in favor are limu manauea (PI. VI, fig. 1), limu huna (PI. VI, fig. 2), and limu pakaeleawaa (Pl. VII, fig. 1), though the latter is native only on the islands of Hawaii and Maui. It was transplanted by certain chiefs to a few places on Oahu and Molokai. The writer was unable to find any specimens of this limu on Kauai or Niihau when collecting on these islands during the summer of 1905, yet several natives insisted that it occurred in Kauai. Limu luau is considered a great delicacy in the few localities where it occurs, but it lasts so short a season, is so scarce, and so difficult to get that it is not very widely known. Only on northern Kauai, north- ern Maui, and northern Hawaii is it in use or in great favor, as it does not occur in other places, except a few scattered plants on Molokai.and Oahu. METHODS OF PRESERVING SEAWEEDS. The Hawaiians usually preserve their seaweed, if only to be kept a few days or a week, by simply salting and tying closely in several layers of ti leaves and placing in a shady place. The ti leaves keep the seaweed from drying and also keep it crisp. The pounded sea- weed is often stored in calabashes or glass jars after it is salted or put into weak brine. PLATE V. An. Rpt. Hawaii Agr. Expt. Station, 1906, Limu KoHU (ASPARAGOPSIS SANFORDIANA). An, Rpt. Hawaii Agr. Expt. Station, 1906. PLaTeE VI. Fic. 1.—LIMU MANAUEA (GRACILARIA CORONOPIFOLIA). Fic. 2.-Limu HUNA (HYPNEA spP.). An, Rpt. Hawaii Agr. Expt. Station, 1906. Piate VII. Fic. 1.—Limu PAKAELEAWAA (GRATELOUPIA FILICINA). Fic. 2.—LImMu AKIAKI (AHNFELDTIA CONCINNA). 71 Limu kohu, limu pakaeleawaa, limu liopa, and limu luau will keep many months, or even a year, when thus preserved. Limu lipoa is not usually kept very long, not more than a few weeks. Most all the other limus in common use are only kept from one or two days to a week, depending upon the weather and the locality. If limu is placed on ice it keeps considerably longer. Limu pahapaha and limu pakaeleawaa are occasionally kept indeti- nitely by simply drying without washing off the sea water. Hawaii- ans very seldom use this method of preserving the limu, as they seem to think that it would be spoiled if allowed to dry. But few Hawaii- ans seem to know that almost all the seaweeds on the Hawaiian coast can be dried without any perceptible injury either to color, flavor, or texture. The writer has tried almost every species of Hawaiian sea- weeds, and with two or three exceptions it was impossible to tell the dried specimens from the fresh if they were first soaked an hour or two in salt water. If fresh water is used for soaking or washing seaweeds it often removes the coloring matter either of the fresh or dried limu. Therefore it is best to add as much salt as is found in normal sea water when washing or preparing seaweeds, either for food or for specimens. THE LIMUS MOST ABUNDANT AND EASILY GATHERED. Perhaps the limus most abundant and widely distributed over all the islands are the various kinds of limu kala, and next, perhaps, are several kinds of limu pahapaha, which are found on all the islands and in considerable quantity. Limu huna and limu manauea are very abundant on the islands of Molokai, Oahu, and Kauai, and especially on the leeward side and where there are low shallow beaches and wide coral reefs. Linu huna is scarce on Maui and not reported from Hawaii at all and was not observed there by the writer when collecting. Limu manauea is less abundant on Hawaii and Maui than on the other islands. Limu akiaki occurs in large quantities on the submerged black lava of Kauai, Oahu, and Hawaii, but is plenti- ful in a few localities on the other islands. At one time it was tabooed except for the chiefs. Limu loloa is most abundant on the islands of Kauai, Molokai, and Oahu, but is found in considerable quantities on the other islands. Most of the limu uaualoli is found chiefly on Maui and Molokai, but is rather scarce on Hawaii. Limu pakaeleawaa is only plentiful on the island of Hawaii on the southeast coast, but is found in limited quantities on Maui, Molokai, and Oahu, having been transplanted to the last two islands. Limu eleele is found in large quantities in the brackish water at the mouth of all the streams that are not too swift. All the limus mentioned above are easily gathered except limu uaualoli, which grows on the stormy side of the islands on the most 72 exposed rocks, so unless the weather is very calm it is rather difficult to secure in large quantities. Limu oolu grows in shallow water near shore or farther out on the shallow sand-covered reefs where the water is quiet, hence is quite easily gathered, but it occurs in rather limited quantity in but a few places. All the other limus are more difficult to gather and also occur in more limited quantities and in but few localities. This is especially true of limu luau, which is extremely difficult to collect and is very scarce. It grows only on the most exposed and slippery rocks, and disappears in a few days after the stormy weather subsides not to reappear until the next season immediately after the heavy winds. Therefore this much-prized limu is always most difficult to obtain even in very small quantities. Limu kohu, which is so eagerly sought, grows usually far out on the exposed rocks or on coral reefs, where the breakers dash, so is rather difficult to get even in quiet weather and impossible in heavy storms. Occasionally, however, it grows on reefs less exposed and more accessible. Limu lipoa is limited to certain localities, and occurs in rather small quantities. It grows in rather deep water, so usually can be gathered only by diving or swimming. It is found in small quantities on all these islands, and is a general favorite. Limu huna and limu manauea are often drifted upon the beach by the heavy winds or high tides, and may be very easily gathered in boat loads by wading along the shallows at low tide and gathering up the drift on the shore and at the water’s edge. It is especially abundant where there are very wide coral reefs under shallow water and a sandy bottom. There are tons and tons of these two limus on the south coast of Molokai, south and east Kauai, and almost all around Oahu, except off Kaena Point and in the harbor, where the water is too deep or muddy for seaweeds to thrive. Wherever there are shallows or reefs off Maui it is also plentiful, though not in such large quantities as the other islands mentioned, because of a less favorable coast. Limu manauea and limu huna are most abundant in early spring and during the summer months, though both are found in consider- able quantities all the year, as would naturally be expected in a tropical region. Limu loloa can be secured in large quantities all the year round on Molokai, Oahu, Kauai, and Maui, but is not so abundant on Hawaii. It grows on the great lava rocks exposed to waves, so in heavy storms it is difficult to secure. Limu akiaki (Pl. VII, fig. 2) may be obtained by boat loads all the year, if not too stormy, as it also grows on the great black lava rocks ~ 73 exposed usually to heavy surf. Sometimes it grows in quiet coves or behind the great lava rocks alongshore in less exposed places, but never in shallow water. NATIVE METHODS OF CULTIVATING LIMUS. The writer was much surprised to learn that a rude kind of cultiva- tion of the much-prized limu kohu was practiced at Moloaa, on Kauai. Here limu kohu grows very luxuriantly over the entire reef, and is the finest in color and flavor found on this group of islands. There is a small cove just beyond Moloaa Bay to the northward, which is partly protected from the heavy trade winds and southerly storms by bold, rocky bluffs or headlands. The coral reef extends from the shore out perhaps a half mile and beyond the headlands, so that the whole cove has rather shallow water. The coral rock, the usual haunt of the limu kohu, is in this place somewhat protected from storms, so the natives can gather this limu almost any time of the year, when the tide is low, without danger from heavy breakers. The Hawaiians living at Moloaa gather limu kohu for the Honolulu market regularly, making a nice little income from its sale, as they furnish the larger share of the supply. It is here that these limu gatherers have attempted to increase their sales by caring for their sea- weed to the extent of weeding out all the other alge, and thus, no doubt, increasing the quality and quantity of limu kohu, which here is so much finer and more luxuriant than in any other place. This is the only place of which the writer has heard where the limu is actually weeded and cared for asa garden. There are, however, several places where a certain favorite limu has been transplanted from other islands and guarded carefully until it could get established. Limu pakaeleawaa was transplanted from Hawaii to Molokai by an old chief, who planted it on the inner edge of his fish pond, where it is now growing luxuri- antly. This same limu has also been transplanted to the beach in front of the residence of ex-Queen Liliuokalani, near Diamond Head, and also in front of her Waikiki place. It is thriving in both places, so the writer has been told. This last summer, when collecting on the north side of Oahu, in Kaneohe Bay, the writer was much surprised to find limu pakaeleawaa growing luxuriantly on the rocks near shore. The native fishermen said that it had been planted there many years before by a chief, who brought it from Hawaii. In all these instances there is an attempt to aid nature, and so a crude kind of limu culture is practiced in Hawaii, though, of course, it is not so extensive or systematic as that in Japan. There may have been more attempts at cultivating or transplanting seaweeds by the natives of the past, for no doubt when a chief moved from one island to another he brought with him his best taro and yam plants for his lands; why not his favorite limus to his fish ponds or beach? 74 VALUE AND AMOUNT OF NATIVE SEAWEEDS SOLD IN HONOLULU. It would be rather difficult to tell the exact amount or value of all the seaweed sold each year in Honolulu, but it is possible to make a fairly accurate estimate from the market inspector’s report and the Chinese merchants’ statements. The inspector of the fish markets reports the annual sale of 4,800 pounds of limu, valued at about $2,500. It is sold almost exclusively to the Hawaiians or part Hawaiians. Of this total about 2,000 pounds is limu kohu, which is worth about $1,000 at retail. The remaining amount is about two-thirds to three-fourths limu eleele and limu oolu. All the rest are comparatively scarce or not so popular, so are only in the market occasionally during certain seasons of the year. Limu kohu is always in the market, while the other limus are usually found only on Saturdays and the day before holidays. The following limus are found in the Honolulu fish market, either regularly or at intervals, according to the season or the weather: Limu kohu (Asparagopsts sanfordiana), limu eleele (Lnteromorpha prolifera, LE. fleauosa, E. intestinalis, FE. hopkirkii, and LE. plumosa), limu oolu (Chondria tenutssima), limu lipeepee or limu maneoneo (Laurencia papillosa, L. pinnatifida, L. virgata, L. obtusata), limu manauea ( Graci- laria coronopifolia), limu lipoa (Dictyota acutiloba and Haliseris pla- grogramma), limu kalawai (Vaias major), and occasionally limu huna. Usually these native limus are cleaned, pounded, and salted all ready for serving before they are offered for sale in small plates or saucers. These plates contain from a half pound to a pound of the limu, which sells at from 5 to 25 cents per plate, depending upon the kind. Most all the edible green fresh-water alge are called lipalawai or polawaie, and there are perhaps a half dozen species in the mountain streams that are known b these names. ¢ A single small specimen sent by native on Maui, similar to Porphyra. @Used by but few Hawaiians for food; not popular. ¢ Reported only from two islands and scarce; called limu luau on Kauai and limy lipahu on Hawaii. i / This species often called limu loloa on Maui and Kauai. 9 Not in general use, but eaten in the southern part of Hawaii. + Imperfect and immature specimens, so could not be positively identified. ‘This grows in brackish water pools by the sea and is eaten by only a fev Hawaiians. JThese three species seem to be indistinguishable by the natives, and the diffe ent islands and localities have various forms of the name, but limu pakaea is only i use on Hawaii. O