Bobea
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. Bobea was named for Jean-Baptiste Bobe-Moreau by Charles Gaudichaud-Beaupré in 1830 in his book Voyage de l'Uranie.
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.- Bobea brevipes A.Gray – Ahakea lau lii
- Bobea elatior – Ahakea lau nui
- Bobea myrtoides – eastern Queensland
- Bobea sandwicensis Hillebr. – Ahakea
- Bobea timonioides Hillebr. – ''Ahakea''