Leucæna Forsteri
This bush of the Mimoseæ frequents maritime sands in the South Pacific, and is confined to this region. It has been found in New Caledonia, Fiji, Tonga, Rarotonga, and Tahiti. The seeds sink and the pods dehisce on the plant, so that the agency of currents, unless we invoke the intervention of the drifting log, bearing the seeds in its crevices, seems to be excluded. Sea-birds might carry the seeds unharmed in their stomachs, but there is no evidence bearing on birds as agents in the dispersal of the species. Since the plant has not been recorded from localities outside the Pacific islands, and since it was collected by Cook’s botanists in Tonga and Tahiti, it cannot be placed amongst plants of recent introduction. Although growing on maritime sands in Fiji, Rarotonga, and Tahiti, it may grow inland, and according to Cheeseman is particularly abundant in Rarotonga. In Fiji it is apt to occupy newly-formed alluvial land at the mouth of the rivers, as in the case of the Rewa; but the “how and why” caused me much fruitless speculation, and I abandoned the plant in despair. The Fijians sometimes give it the native name of Serianthes myriadenia, which they then term “Vaivai ni Viti,” or the Fijian Vaivai. In Tahiti it is named “Toroire,” and in Tonga “Toromiro.”