Bobea

For the Bantu language spoken in Cameroon, see Wovea language.

Bobea is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It includes five species, four of which are endemic to Hawaii and one to eastern Queensland in Australia.^[1] Bobea was named for Jean-Baptiste Bobe-Moreau by Charles Gaudichaud-Beaupré in 1830 in his book Voyage de l'Uranie.

Bobea
Bobea gaudichaudii
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Gentianales
Family:	Rubiaceae
Subfamily:	Cinchonoideae
Tribe:	Guettardeae
Genus:	Bobea Gaudichaud
Type species
Bobea gaudichaudii (Cham. & Schltdl.) H.St.John & Herbst
Synonyms
Bobaea A.Rich. Obbea Hook.f. Rytidotus Hook.f.

The wood of Bobea is hard, wearable, and yellow. It was used for the gunwales of Polynesian voyaging canoes. The gunwales of modern canoes are sometimes painted yellow in imitation of the wood that is no longer widely available.

Species

Five species are accepted.^[1]

• Bobea brevipes A.Gray – ʻAhakea lau liʻi (Kauaʻi, Oʻahu)^[2]
• Bobea elatior Gaudich. – ʻAhakea lau nui (Kauaʻi, Molokaʻi, Maui, island of Hawaiʻi)^[2]
• Bobea myrtoides (F.Muell.) Valeton – eastern Queensland
• Bobea sandwicensis (A.Gray) Hillebr. – ʻAhakea^[3] (Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, Maui)^[2]
• Bobea timonioides (Hook.f.) Hillebr. – ʻAhakea (Maui, island of Hawaiʻi)^[2]