PAMAKANI-HAOLE, _Eupatorium glandulosum_ HBK. _Eupatorium_ is another huge genus of the Composite Family with several hundred species, mostly from tropical America. Five species have been introduced into Hawaii of which two are bad pests. _E. glandulosum_, a native of Mexico, spread rapidly on Maui, crowding out desirable plants and making pasturelands worthless. A parasitic insect, _Procecidochares utilis_ Stone, was introduced in 1944 to combat it. This insect belongs to the order DIPTERA, the flies, gnats, midges, and mosquitoes, and to the family TRYPETIDAE, that includes the Mediterranean fruitfly and the common “apple-worm” which is actually the larva of a fly. The trypetids infest living plants, frequently causing galls, and have piercing ovipositors, often prominent, with which females deposit eggs beneath the skin of their host.
It is not expected that the studied introduction of a parasite will result in the extermination of a host, but rather that it will check unbridled increase and spread. The method is termed “biological control.” It has been successfully adopted against several menaces, such as cactus, lantana, and a fern-weevil, _Syragrius fulvitarsis_ Pascoe, that kills amaumau ferns in the Kilauea Crater area.
Pamakani abound throughout the crater, even clinging as tiny starvelings in small cracks in cliffs, like those along Halemauu Trail. Every plant shows swellings in which the little maggots live, and exit holes through which the new adults emerge. Many plants bear only few leaves and fight tenaciously for survival. Big plants may be seen along Kaupo Trail. _Pamakani_ means _wind-blown_, in reference to the method of seed dispersal.
HAIRY CAT’S-EAR, “Dandelion,” _Hypochoeris radicata_ L. A common composite, native to the Mediterranean, found in abundance throughout the park. Its narrow leaves with yellow hairs form flat rosettes. A branching, leafless stalk up to a foot or more tall bears yellow flower-heads, an inch in diameter, that resemble the well-known dandelion, _Taraxacum officinale_ Weber, by which common name many call the cat’s-ear. The hairless, _H. glabra_ L. is a smaller plant with smooth leaves and flower-heads ¼ inch in diameter. The cat’s-ear is a favorite food of the Hawaiian goose, _nene_. _Gosmer_ is a common name used locally.